Gesundheit
by dart53
Summary: 'Shoulda, woulda, coulda... It's nobody's fault.' Somtimes that's easier to say than it is to believe.
1. Chapter 1

**Gesundheit**

"Jeeze! This is nuts!" Casino grumbled. "I don't see why you wanna waste time on doin' this when I could just go ahead and do the job ten times fa…, faahtht…!" And with one explosive sneeze he sent a geyser of flour into the air.

"Gesundheit." Garrison mumbled as he watched a mantle of white form over the shoulders and arms of his green jacket as the ersatz snow began to settle. "That's why, Casino."

All of the men had been sick. Casino was just the latest casualty.

Goniff was the first to go down, and Casino blamed it on his close relationship with Eddie. The little cat burglar protested as he coughed, sneezed and sweated his way through five days of wretchedness, that if being around Eddie did him under it should be Casino laid up with him, not Chiefy who'd taken to his bed two days behind Goniff, because Casino spent way more time down with Mrs. Reid's bunch of 'ankle biters' than he could ever manage with Eddie. Casino just laughed back at him and told him, with a superior air, that was exactly why he _wasn't _sick, because of his exposure to a bigger variety of 'crud'. He told him it worked, 'sort a like all those shots they give us back before we come over here.'

Goniff just blew his nose and told him was 'crackers.'

The next one to fall by the wayside was Actor.

Goniff got through his bout without too much in the way of whinging. Which was a surprise, given his personality… But then he did have Mrs. Marley fussing over him when she was in to do her chores around the place, and she managed to do that three out of the six days he was sick. Chief just toughed it out, relying on his stoic nature, and a little leftover coddling from Mrs. Marley…. But Actor? Well, Actor was a royal pain. Every step of the way. No amount of pillow plumping, homemade soup, or tea…which, in desperation, they changed to hot brandy as they searched for some way to put him out of their misery… seemed to make a dent in his suffering. Goniff and Chief were inclined to give him a pass for it because he'd borne the lion's share of their care, at least when Mrs. Marley wasn't around. But Casino wouldn't give him an inch. He didn't have any empathy because he hadn't been sick, so he didn't pull any punches when it came time to render an opinion on the con man's reaction to having a 'lousy little cold, for cryin' out loud? They way you'r carryin' on, you'd give Camille a run for her money!"

Actor refused to believe Casino even understood the reference, until the group's safe cracking expert gave him chapter and verse on the movie, even quoting a few of Garbo and Taylor's lines from the dramatic final scene. He then went on to compare the movie to the death scene from the opera "La Boheme, humming a few bars from the final aria…, just for good measure.

Casino was more than willing to take credit for their continental con artist leaving his bed a full day sooner than either Goniff or Chief. He claimed it was 'on account a the shock a findin' out somebody other than _him_ knows somethin' for a change!'

They'd been bumped from one mission, and Garrison had gone over solo for a few days during the two weeks the three men were sick. As soon as everyone was finally upright, though, they had to be sent out again. They were currently hold up in the wreckage of an old foundry, somewhere in France.

g

Garrison swatted at the flour that marred his jacket, but only succeeded in leaving handprints along the arms and shoulders of the garment and raising another cloud of fine flour that caused him to cough. He opted for giving the favored article of clothing a quick shake to put things right, and slipped it off and stepped over into the far corner to accomplish the task. When he came back to the work area they'd set up his jacket was fairly clean, but his face and hair still looked like he'd been out overnight in a hard frost. Actor wordlessly handed him a damp cloth and went back to smoking his pipe.

Casino watched the cleanup routine, grousing the whole time. "I still say it'd be faster if I did it."

"And have you blow black powder all over everything?" the Warden said through his toweling off. "Casino, we may not have enough of the stuff as it is." Garrison finally gave up and tossed the cloth aside and stepped back to the other side of the bench. "You'll put the mockup together over on your side of the table, and I'll mirror what you're doing with the real stuff over here. Now show me that again… I want one more run through before we do it for real."

g

Given the nature of their work this assignment wasn't all that complicated. They were to gain access to a set of plans in a factory and swipe them, then blow the place on the way out. It would have been a 'piece a cake' as Casino liked to say, except for the part about them not being able to use their combination safecracker-explosives specialist on the job. Just about the time his feet hit the ground in France, Casino started developing symptoms of the 'lousy little cold' that he'd sworn he was immune to. He was well into the fever-aches-sneezing stage of the malady and the Warden wasn't about to risk him out on the job. They couldn't afford to wait out the six or seven days it would take for him the beat this thing either, hence the impromptu lesson in manufacturing one of Casino's signature explosive devices.

They made it through the last dry run and started on the real thing. The Warden had a steady hand and he already had some good solid experience behind him, both before the group was formed and working with them, but as they worked Casino coached him from his side of the table anyway.

'Don't tamp it down so much! You don't wanna set the stuff off right here, do ya?' And in the next step, 'Leave more cord showin', for cryin' out loud! Jeeze! You gotta leave yourself enough time t' get out a there!'

Garrison just grit his teeth and took it all in stride. He knew it was just part of Casino's nature to be critical. He also knew the man's abrasiveness tended to increase right along with his level of anxiety.

Casino certainly had enough to be anxious about… They were doing this on the fly since he'd gotten sick. If the others were lucky and only a simple lock separated them from their goal, they'd do their best to pick it, something all four of them were getting pretty good at, though they'd never match him for speed. But if it was a safe, they'd have to come up with some way to get their hands on the combination, or con, or worse yet, coerce someone into opening it up for them. If they had to take that route they'd have to make another pass at the place after coming back out to pick up uniforms and transportation. That would take time, and more time spent in the area put them all at greater risk of being discovered. If the Warden decided against a con, they'd have to blow the safe… and that would probably bring the Krauts right down on their necks before they could get out. So Casino wasn't happy, especially since he would be stuck in the background, in the dark, waiting.

"I still say I ought a come along."

"Sure Pappy. One sneeze out a you and we'd all be up in front of a Kraut firin' squad."

"Then go do your thing, Indian! Go find some weed 'r other that'll ta… ta… taahtht…!" This time when he sneezed there wasn't any blizzard, all of the supplies had already been packed away.

"Get used to it, Casino. You're staying, and we're going." Garrison turned up his wrist and checked the time. "And we're going right now." He shepherded the other three out ahead of him, but turned on the ruined threshold. "Look, relax. It's a piece of cake, right?" At Casino's scowl Garrison's lighthearted delivery dropped away. Things could go wrong, they all knew that, and he didn't like leaving Casino here alone without backup any more than the east coast con wanted them to go out a man short. "We'll be back here by ten, at the latest. I'll let you push it another hour, but if we're not here by eleven, don't hang around. You high tail it for the coordinates I showed you on the map. Got it?"

There were plans. And there were backup plans for when things went wrong. And then there were contingency plans for when things really got fouled up. They were already on a backup plan because of his damn cold. If things really went in the toilet Casino was to get out to make contact with the underground and _they'd_ be the ones trying to get the group out of whatever kind of jam they'd gotten themselves into.

Garrison didn't wait for his agreement, just clapped him on the shoulder and disappeared out into the darkness. Casino spent a tense few moments staring after him, straining to hear or see something, while at the same time praying that he wouldn't hear or see a thing. Because if he did, it only meant that their nice, safe, hideout had been discovered, and they were all about to get themselves shot.

g

"What's so bloody important about these plans anyway? 'ow come we gotta risk our necks t' get 'em?" Goniff breathed in his ear as they sat watching the complex.

Since Casino wasn't along on this part of the job Goniff had taken it upon himself to keep tradition alive and question their mission. Garrison lowered the glasses and turned on his cockney pick pocket. "You know, Goniff, they don't always discuss all the reasons with me for everything we do," he told him quietly. "In fact most of the time they just hand me my orders and send me on my way."

Goniff considered that a moment, even scratching at the back of his head as he mulled it over…. "C'mon Warden, don't try and sell that."

His men hadn't been the only ones who'd fallen ill. Even though he'd been the one in France laying the groundwork for this operation another team had trained to come over to do the job. Garrison's group had been substituted in at the last minute because that unit was still laid up on medical leave back in England. They hadn't had the time for their usual in-depth orientation before they took off. "Alright, here it is…" he pivoted to face the three men gathered at his back. "The Germans are experimenting with some new, more efficient kind of carburetor. This is where they're doing most of the work on it."

"Won't that mean a whole lot more guards?" his point man asked. "Stiffer security measures?"

Garrison turned to address Chief's concerns. If there were additional alarms to get through, the job would fall to the young scout. "It doesn't look like it. In fact it seems like they're keeping activity around the plant to a minimum…"

"To avoid attracting any interest from our side?" Actor theorized.

"So it seems." Garrison turned his back on his men, swung the binoculars back up into place and continued to study the buildings spread out before them.

g

Discovery of the plant they were going to hit had been an unexpected benefit of another operation. Close surveillance had been mounted by the underground on a French mechanical engineer known to be working with the Germans. In the course of tailing him the resistance stumbled across this place. Since the Allies were interested in the kind of work the engineer was doing, and the engineer seemed to be very interested in this particular factory, the information had been forwarded.

Because of the illness plaguing his group Garrison was available when that information came in so he'd been sent over to check out the report. He 'appropriated' an SS uniform and papers and pulled a surprise inspection of the facility. He got a look at what they were doing and had a fair idea of the implications. Craig spent several days on the ground in France working with their underground contacts but they weren't set up to pull off a job like this and he couldn't manage it alone. He returned to England, made his report, and the mission was set up. After briefing the team that was picked to go in he returned to the mansion and let them get on with training for the job. Four days later, and two hours before the plane was to leave he got the call. Another man on the first team had just gone down, that left them too many men short to pull off the job. Since he'd cased the place, and his men were now in better shape, his group was elected to go.

They were told to move quickly. The underground informed them they had forty-eight hours to get what they wanted out of the factory. One of the women in the group had cultivated a 'friendship' with a guard at the facility and reported the project was nearing completion. The research had been done in France but the actual manufacturing of the device would be done deep inside Germany. Everything was about ready to be packed up and moved.

They were also told the engineer was strictly off limits. The resistance was interested in him too… Interested in seeing to it he got his pay back for being a 'collaborateur'.

Headquarters decided they needed the assistance and cooperation of members of the underground more than they needed the French engineer,… but that didn't mean they didn't want his blue prints, and the data from his research.

From the previous trip Garrison knew which part of the complex the research buildings were in. He knew which one of the buildings held the office where the engineer worked. He'd spent enough time watching the plant to have a good idea of the security precautions in place, …at least the original ones… That was the problem. They wouldn't know if there had been any changes in response to his 'inspection' until they got in there.

g

"Alright, just like we planned… Actor, you back Chief up while he handles the alarms. Goniff will go with me and find a way to get us inside that building. We'll give you fifteen minutes. If the system isn't down by then we'll take a shot at getting through any alarms on our own. Anything happens everyone meets back at the foundry." The Warden checked his watch again. "Anything after… midnight, go on to the next safe house, make contact with the underground and get the Hell out of here." He got murmured agreement from all of them and then sent them on their way with a quiet order to, "Take off." Craig watched the two men blend into the darkness and fought the urge to check his watch every fifteen seconds.

If Actor and Chief didn't manage to take the alarms down within those fifteen minutes the chances were good that it would be because they'd been discovered and taken prisoner. They all knew that,… just as they all knew that there would only be a brief window of time between their discovery and an increase in security measures around the plant. Garrison would have to make use of that window of opportunity to complete their assignment even if it meant leaving Actor and Chief to act as a rather effective diversion.

g

He was huddled in an old blanket and he'd been staring into the small fire they'd built in one of the old furnaces. Casino was seeing it all in his head… just how the job was going and what the guys were up to. They'd been out to the factory to case it, he'd seen how the place was set up so he could picture where they were, where they'd breach the fence to get on the grounds. In his head he watched them make their way to the structure where the Warden figured the plans were stashed. He willed the facility to have a simple alarm system and mentally talked Chief through setting up his bypasses. He even imagined he was sitting on his knees right next to the door as the Warden tried to pick the lock. He heard the soft clicking as the cylinder shifted… Casino's head jerked up. Only a lock didn't snap like that! That was a foot coming down on a dry twig, causing it to break!


	2. Chapter 2

"What's so special about this thingamabob anyway?" Goniff asked as he cut the last link in the fence.

"If the information we have is right, it'll mean easier startups, and increased fuel efficiency for the Germans. Supposed to be simpler too, easier to adjust and fix. That'll give them too big of an advantage out in the field." Garrison split his attention between their target building, his watch, and the fence line where he expected to see Actor and Chief as they withdrew back into cover.

"But," Goniff's voice was pitched low. "Even the Jerries aren't thick enough to keep the only set a plans for something like that 'ere. What good's it gonna do us to risk our necks for it if they can just pull out a copy and start up makin' it again somewheres else?"

"Blowing this place'll slow them down, and it'll give our engineers a chance to check the thing out."

"And if it works we use it ourselfs."

"That's the idea." There was a low rumbling sound off in the distance and he glanced up to see clouds gathering overhead and cursed silently. If the weather turned on them it would take another full day to make it to the coast for a trip back out by sub….through rain that would probably turn Casino's cold to pneumonia... Garrison checked the time again and watched as the second hand swept past the sixteen minute mark. "Come on. It looks like it's up to us."

They gathered up their supplies and moved down the fence line in the direction Actor and Chief had taken. Crouching down into the shadows they waited for a security patrol to pass and had just started on their way again when the other two men finally came into view about fifty yards away. Chief gave them the sign that the alarms were down and Garrison waved them away into the underbrush to provide cover for their exit. He and Goniff returned to their original position where they'd cut the fence. They waited for the guards to make another pass and then made a run for the research building. Goniff produced a short length of wire that he inserted at the bottom of the window and within seconds the latch was free and they were inside.

g

Garrison held his fingers over the flash light as he turned it on. The building was long and narrow. Two rows of work benches ran its length and the isle they created led straight to a glass door set in a wall at the far end. A large plate glass window took up the rest of that wall. They silently made their way to the glass door and the Warden dropped to his knees to work on the lock. Once inside the office they still had to be careful with the light, there were no shades on the door or that window. The engineer was either very enthused about manufacturing his device, or he didn't trust his workers. Either way the man obviously wanted to keep a close eye on things out on the small production line while he attended to his own work and research.

It took a long time to go through the office. Garrison carefully searched the desk first, and then turned his attention to the file cabinet that sat behind it. He found the blueprints and test results they were after, folded them up and had Goniff stuff them down the back of his shirt, but, as always, he was on the lookout for anything else that might be of interest. Goniff kept watch while the Warden worked. At the little man's warning they huddled at the base of the wall under the window and watched the beam from the guard's flashlight sweep across the back wall of the office each time the man made his rounds. The large window kept them from making use of the room lights, but it also allowed the man inspecting the room to stay on his own side of the door as he checked the space. They had to hit the floor three times to avoid being discovered but the expanded search resulted in several additions to the documents the second story man carried. After the guard's third pass Garrison headed for the large metal storage cabinet that was built into the corner of the office.

There was a padlock on the door to the cabinet that, with a small pliable piece of aluminum and the trick he'd learned from Casino, opened easily enough. He pulled the lever on the latch up and froze at the screech the door made as he tried to ease it open. The sound seemed to echo in the deserted building. At a hiss from Goniff, Garrison dropped to the floor and scrambled towards the desk, the cabinet door started to swing open with another squeal and he stuck his foot out to stop it. Holding his breath he watched the shadows in the room move, leaning away from the beam of the guard's flashlight. Craning his neck he caught sight of the pickpocket hunched down behind the door, poised to jump the guard when he came through to investigate…

The beam of light moved across the shelves and cabinets that lined the back wall of the office. It swept across the counters next as the man moved closer, then grazed the items on top of the desk and work table. The beam glanced off the cabinet's metal door, its reflected glow lighting the Warden where he lay under the desk and Goniff as he pressed into the forward corner of the room. Then it swung away, leaving them in darkness as the guard continued his inspection of the workshop and finally went back outside to complete his patrol.

Goniff's nervous giggle died in his throat at the slight squeak from the door. The Warden was still stuck. If he moved the door moved. If the door moved…. Goniff slipped out of the office and returned with a small can of machine oil he'd spotted on one of the work tables in the main room. He treated the hinges and after a moment Garrison cautiously relaxed a little and let the door move, just a fraction. Silence. He lowered his foot to the floor and it swung open noiselessly.

Goniff's first instinct was to head for the door, slip down between all a those desks and back out the window the way they'd come in. That would be the right thing, the smart thing to do. Goniff knew they wouldn't be doing that. He went back to watching for the guard while the Warden investigated the contents of the cabinet.

Garrison covered the lens of his flashlight and switched it on. He let out a low whistle that brought Goniff to his side. The reddish light that glowed between his fingers winked back at them from several models that rested on the shelves.

"This stuff goes." Garrison pulled a folded square of heavy canvass from under his belt and shook it out. "Help me load this up."

g

Garrison checked his watch as he set the charge. They were behind schedule. Once they cleared the grounds they'd have to double time it all the way back to the safe house to get Casino if they were going to make their pick up for home. He settled the device under the skirt of a lathe that sat right outside the engineer's office, checked to make sure Goniff was up near the door, and then lit the fuse and took off for the door himself.

Goniff had already slipped through the exit and sidled down the wall to the corner of the building to check for guards before they made their run for the fence. He muttered a curse under his breath and turned back to meet the Warden just coming through the door.

"Bloody guard's comin' back again, an' he's got company!"

Garrison chewed at his lower lip a moment as he reviewed the layout of the grounds in his head. They'd have to work their way through the complex and go out the other side where there was a little more cover. They wouldn't be able to meet up with the others and it would take them longer to get back to the foundry but unless they wanted to confront the guards it was their only choice. He motioned Goniff on ahead of him and crept along the end of the building, sliding around the corner just before the guards arrived. He'd left the door to the building ajar trusting that the guards would double check inside for signs of intruders before calling for back up. Garrison stood there listening. A cautious tread on the wooden step confirmed it. At least one man was inside. A moment later there was another creak. He took a chance and shot a quick look around the corner just in time to see the back of the second guard move slowly through the door. They had a large area to search and he prayed they'd work their way from the door in the back up to the front where the office was. If they went directly up there they'd be able to hear and smell the fuse and he and Goniff would have no chance to make their get-away.

"Down along these buildings to the fence on the other side." Garrison whispered in Goniff's ear. "Get the cutters out. And move it!"

They took off in a crouching run, keeping to the shadows as they made their way away from the engineering workshop. Two guards were just making their way along the perimeter fence as they reached the deep shadow at the end of the last building. They waited, giving the men time to move out of sight. Garrison checked his watch. There was no time to wait for the patrol to make another pass, or to get a feel for how long they'd have to make it through the fence. They'd have to trust that the patrol here mirrored the one on the other side of the complex. He got his own set of wire cutters out of the lower pocket on the leg of his trousers, adjusted the straps on the backpack he wore, and sent Goniff off with a shove. When they reached the fence the little pickpocket dropped down on his haunches and started working up from the bottom while the Warden worked down from the top. When they met and clipped the last strand they rolled the link back and pushed through the fence.

The forest was still fifty yards away. Staying low to the ground next to the fence they checked for a patrol, seeing none, they took off. Just as safety seemed attainable there was a shout from behind.

"Halten Sie an! Was tun Sie dort?"

There was only one voice. His ears strained to pick up the sounds behind them. Unless there was a man standing stock still out there, there was only one man too. Garrison had dropped the wire cutters as soon as he cut the last strand that made up the fence. As they made their run for the safety of the trees he'd fished his pistol out of his shoulder holster…it was in his hand now, but he couldn't risk using it. They had a chance, but only if he could take this guy out, and only if he could do it silently.

Holding his hands out to his sides Garrison let the pistol dangle from a finger and then dropped it. He heard the guard take several cautious steps forward, at the same time he eased back a step. Craig waited for the man to move again and carefully repeated the maneuver. He let the soldier move up several more steps but this time he held his own position. The next time he heard movement he carefully took one more step back.

"Umdrehen. Langsam!"

Goniff shot a look over his shoulder and gave a wink to let the Warden know he'd do his part. Both of them pivoted around slowly to face their captor. Garrison was close; within arms reach. All Goniff had to do was provide the diversion. The little cockney took off to his left. The muzzle of the guard's rifle shifted to follow him and that gave the Warden his opening.

Garrison moved in fast, placed the flat of his left hand on the man's shoulder at the base of his neck and gave a quick shove to the side of his head with the heel of his right hand. He lowered the body to the ground and caught up the man's rifle. Goniff was at his side as he pushed back to his feet, ready in case he needed help but the guard was already dead. Before they could turn for the forest a sharp clap assaulted their eardrums. Instinct dropped both men to the ground as the fireball stretched up into the night sky. A rush of air rustled the leaves around them. A few bits and pieces of the engineering building, some of them still trailing flames, arced high over their heads to land in the forest beyond.

Goniff raised his head and shook the leaves out of his hair. "Too Bloody much black powder," the little man complained.

Garrison pushed to his feet and reached a hand down to help his second story man up. "Insurance," he replied with a smile.

They started for the forest again, and had just reached the safety of the first stand of trees when there was another shout.

"Halt! Hände hoch!"

The guards patrolled in pairs, this must be the other one. Still just one man. The two men got set and prepared to pull their maneuver on the second guard. Garrison held the stolen rifle out and dropped it, listened for movement and took a step back.

"Stillstehen. Jede Bewegung werden Sie geschossen!"

The sound of a rifle being brought to firing position underlined the guard's threat and Garrison did as ordered and froze. He'd have to let the man come to him. There was another cautious step forward and then another…but there was another sound out there too, faint, somewhere back behind the guard… He tensed as the man took another step. Suddenly there was an in rushing of air followed by a sharp retort.

Garrison whirled on the soldier, made a grab for him and brought the heel of his right hand up sharply aiming for the guard's jaw. The weight of the pack he carried threw him off balance and all he managed to do was clip the German's chin before he fell, taking Goniff down with him. Garrison was down on his back. He saw the man raise his gun and he reacted, rolling to throw himself over the cockney thief.

Enraged now, the soldier raised his rifle and fired.

g

Goniff lay pinned face down in the dirt. He heard two shots. He felt the Warden's body jerk twice as the bullets hit, then he felt the awful sensation of something hot soaking into his shirt. The weight across his back increased. Nothing moved, for a moment there was no sound at all. The little pick pocket clenched his fists, pressed his forehead into the leaves and waited for the shot that would bring an end to his life too.


	3. Chapter 3

Casino was just at the edge of the forest, too far away to do them any good, when he saw Goniff and the Warden retreat to the other side of the building in the face of the oncoming guards. He shot a look around for Actor and Chief but couldn't see anything of them…. Garrison only had one choice, he knew that; he would head for the other side of the complex and make his way out. If the other two were around to see it they'd be getting ready to cause a diversion if the Warden needed it. He could try and find them, if he could, and help, or he could stick with a sure thing and hook up with Garrison and Goniff. Casino started moving through the trees. He'd have to move fast if he was going to pick them up on the other side.

He knew he had to stay back in the trees and keep out of sight but that meant he had much farther to go, it also meant he couldn't keep the fence in sight all of the time, so unless Casino saw them do it, he wouldn't know exactly where the other two went through the wire. When he got to the other side there was no sign of them. He moved cautiously along the edge of the forest as it paralleled the fence line. Peering through the darkness, praying they wouldn't take the time to roll the chain link back into place, Casino strained to see where they'd breached the damn fence. He felt a burning sensation building and brought his hands up. Screwing his eyes shut he pressed hard on either side of the root of his nose and breathed a relieved sigh as the sensation faded. Clearing his watery vision with the heels of his hands he checked the fence again. He'd gone too far… That had to be it…. He was practically half way to the other end of the joint! As he turned around to start back the other way he caught movement near the trees. Just as he took off back that direction he heard something that caused his heart to stop.

"_Halten Sie an! Was tun Sie dort?"_

Casino fought the urge to break into a flat out run. It was only just him out here. He didn't know how many Krauts had the drop on the other two men. If he gave himself away by crashing through the forest he wouldn't do them a damn bit of good. He moved from tree to tree, taking the time to scan the area around him before he made his next move. He could see the guard moving in. He watched the Warden drop his gun. Watched him take a careful step back. Scanning the open area between the fence and the trees Casino didn't pick up any sign of another man… Must be just the one guy. The guard had moved up another step and the Warden had moved back a little more. Casino knew what was going to happen next, he'd seen Garrison pull this move before, but he didn't settle back to enjoy it, he still had too much ground to cover.

"_Umdrehen. Langsam!" _

He caught the signal between Goniff and the Warden and watched as they turned to face the guard. Just as the Limey made his move the burning returned with a vengeance. Casino's hands flew to his face, covering his mouth and nose. His fingers pressed in, just at the inside corner of his eyes. His eyes screwed closed on their own. He could hear the brief struggle but he couldn't see it. His maneuver had quelled the sneeze alright, but it screwed up his vision too. Gluing himself to the trunk of a tree he waited for it to clear. He wiped the tears away with his sleeve just in time to see the building go up. Casino dropped to the ground next to the tree and watched as debris started falling. _Too much black powder,_ he thought as he carefully got to his feet again and took off in the direction where he'd just seen the others, but they'd already disappeared.

He figured Garrison would work his way through the trees to the road that lay to the North. If they got up there ahead of him, and were lucky, they'd nab a car and be gone without ever knowing he was trailing them. Just as he made the decision to give them a shout he heard something that convinced him silence was a healthier option for all of them.

"_Halt! Hände hoch!"_

Casino went back to skulking from tree to tree. They were up in the underbrush of the forest now, he was having to rely more on hearing…but there wasn't anything more to hear. The Warden was probably playing it quiet again, trying to keep from drawing any other Krauts in on their position. Casino moved another few feet in the direction he'd marked and then froze, listening.

"_Stillstehen. Jede Bewegung werden Sie geschossen__!" _

'geschossen' Shit! He knew that word! That was the Kraut word for 'shoot'! Casino picked up his pace, still trying to be quiet, still trying to preserve the slight advantage surprise would give him. He could see the back of a German helmet just over the top of the bush in front of him. Parting the leaves with his outstretched arms he carefully moved through them and just as he found himself crouching right behind his target the burning hit again, turned itself to needles that drove straight into his brain and he let rip… there was no way he could stop himself.

He could hear the action taking place right in front of him. He knew Garrison would be taking advantage of the shock he'd probably just delivered to the Kraut. He heard flesh hit flesh and the grunt of bodies falling. Wiping furiously at his watery eyes Casino caught sight of a dark shape still looming up in front of him, there was a helmet on it, and he caught movement on the ground. The Kraut was still on his feet! He made a grab for the German guard but before he could connect the guy brought his rifle up and got off two quick shots.

Casino didn't wait for his vision to clear. He brought his hands together, interlaced his fingers and slammed his fists down on the back of the man's neck. When his victim fell the safecracker went down with him. Straddling the soldier's back he got his fingers around the lip of the German's helmet on either side of his head, twisted as hard as he could and gave it a violent shove over to the left. When he had time to remember it later, the sound of the bone breaking made him sick…

Scrambling on his hands and knees Casino crossed the distance between them and sat on his heels looking down at the two men sprawled unmoving in the dappled moonlight that reached the forest floor. There was enough light that he could see the hole in the pack the Warden carried, the bullet took him right square between his shoulder blades, another one hit him in the side. At point blank range the slugs must have cut straight through him and got Goniff too… "Aw, Jeeze! Warden…" Reaching a trembling hand out Casino laid it on the pack and closed his eyes. After a moment he felt movement, his eyes flew open and locked on the Limey's hand where it clutched and dug at the dirt under it. "Goniff? Goniff!"

Casino clambered to his feet, straddled the two bodies and slipped his hands under the Warden's arms to carefully lift as much of the weight off the little pick pocket as he could. He watch, open mouthed, as the little man scrambled and squirmed free. "Jeeze! I thought you were a goner!"

"I ain't dead." Goniff hissed back. "I ain't even hurt. Just the wind knocked out is all… But the Warden's hit,… bad, I think." Pulling his knees under him he turned back in time to see Casino gently lay the Lieutenant face down in the leaves. "Aw, Blimey!"

Casino glanced at Goniff… he'd been certain he was dead just a minute ago…maybe! He felt along the strap that secured the pack at the Warden's waist for the small bail that would release it, then he slipped the shoulder straps down and lifted the weight off his back and set it aside. Any hope that had been building in him disappeared. The fabric was torn, the moonlight filtering through the trees revealed a large stain forming on Garrison's jacket where the blood was seeping up in the middle of his back, another stain darkened the cloth and made it cling along his side.

Casino settled down on the ground next to the Lieutenant and gently pulled him over so that Garrison rested on his outstretched legs. If he was still alive he wouldn't let him die face down in the dirt, and if he was already gone he didn't want to leave him that way. Goniff shuffled up on his knees and leaned in close as Casino brushed the dirt and leaves from the Warden's face. They were both startled when he a took in a gasping breath and his eyes snapped opened.

"Easy Warden. We got ya, mate…" the cockney's voice trembled. "We got ya."

Casino swallowed hard and watched as Garrison took one excruciating breath after another. He struggled to get his 'poker face' firmly in place, to keep the fear and sorrow shoved aside as their leader's eyes lost their faraway look and gradually focused on him. He leaned closer when the Warden's fingers clutched into the fabric of his shirt and pulled him down.

"Get going," came out in a harsh whisper. Garrison licked at the blood that trickled slowly from the corner of his mouth. "I'll follow you…..later."

"S' no good, Warden." Casino told him quietly. "We ain't leavin'."

The Lieutenant strained to get another lungful of air before he tried again. "You have to. Too important.."

"Save it, Warden."

"Damn it!" Muscles corded in his neck as he took another painful breath. "For once in your life… do as you're… told." His eyes closed and he could only manage shallow, rapid, gulps of air, his chest barely moved.

Casino glanced up and shared a look with Goniff. He shook his head slowly and turned his attention back to Garrison as he stirred in his arms.

Craig pulled in as much air as he could, mustered the last of his strength and pushed the words out. "Get the Hell out of here! … That's an order," then lay still and silent.


	4. Chapter 4

The alarms had started before the last echo from the blast died away; they were just part of the background now, so when someone at the plant finally threw a switch and turned them off the silence hit them like a clap of thunder.

"We gotta get out a here!" Goniff whispered urgently.

"You wanna just walk off and leave him?" Casino accused.

"A 'course not!" the little pick pocket shot back. "But we can't stay here, can we mate?"

Suddenly they heard the sound of gun fire. Several single shots from a couple of pistols, followed by the rapid cough of a machine gun, then sporadic rifle fire. Both of them bent protectively over their fallen leader.

"That's gotta be the Jerries after Chiefy an' Actor!"

"No! That's gotta be Actor and Chief givin' us a diversion." Casino jerked his head in the direction of the dead German laying in the brush nearby. "Grab the stuff off that guy. We're gettin' outta here!"

Goniff scrambled over and picked the body clean of things he thought might be useful. He quickly stripped the man out of his tunic, grabbed up his helmet and rifle and dumped everything next to Casino before slipping back out to the first body. When he returned he was working the buttons up the front of the German uniform blouse he'd taken, the helmet was perched at an angle on his head, the second rifle slung over his shoulder.

g

Casino jammed his arms into the sleeves of the tunic then he tore open the pouches on the utility belt until he found the first aid kit. He'd already eased Garrison out of his jacket and now he pulled the Warden's shirt up out of the way and did his best to powder the wound in his side with sulfa. The field dressing he found wasn't large enough to take care of the whole thing so he covered as much as he could before tying it down. When Goniff returned they raided his supplies too and did the same for the injury to the Lieutenant's back after carefully turning him on his side.

"How d'we do it 'th out hurtin' him?" the cockney asked as he crouched down next to the Warden.

Casino had Garrison supported in an encircling arm, the ruined jacket tucked around him for warmth. The Warden was still, unresponsive, his breath coming in short gasps. "I don't think we can hurt him. Not anymore," the safecracker said quietly, then some of the anger and fear he was feeling edged into his voice. "Just get him behind his back and under the legs there while I get set, will ya?"

Goniff quietly did as he was told but just as Casino mirrored his position and started to lift he brought them to a halt. "The bag!"

"What?"

"The Ruddy pack he had on 'is back… We gotta take it!" There was a pleading note to Goniff's voice. "Warden said the plans he give me and the stuff he threw in that bag was important… He thought they was important enough to risk his life on. If he's gonna…. If he's," Goniff's voice broke. …. "Well, we just gotta take 'em."

They already had enough to do to get Garrison out of there. Taking anything else would just slow them down…. But Goniff was right, the Warden had already paid for whatever was in that bag. Casino left Goniff to hold their commander up for a moment as he leaned down and retrieved the pack he'd shoved aside. Swinging it onto his own back he turned and slipped his arm usnder the Warden's legs and around his back and grabbed onto the heavy wool that made up the sleeves of the German tunic the pick pocket had on. They stood, cradling Garrison between them, and Casino rolled his shoulders to settled the pack.

"Jeeze! What'd he put in here, anyway, a damn dead body?" The question was directed over the top of the Warden's head as they moved off into the trees.

g

They didn't even try to be quiet. All of the action was still on the other side of the compound so the chances were good that all of the soldiers had been drawn that direction too. If they had any kind of luck left no one would find the breach in the fence Goniff and Garrison made, or those two dead soldiers back there, until they were long gone. Still their progress was agonizingly slow as they tried to keep from jostling the Warden. When the lighter color of the moon-lit roadbed finally appeared at the base of the trees in front of them they both said a silent prayer of thanks. Goniff started easing them off to the right.

"Hold it." Casino brought them to a halt. "We gotta go the other way."

"What 'r you goin' on about? The Bloody safe house is back this way!" Goniff protested. "We gotta get the Warden back to that foundry."

"Yeah? What foundry? I blew the place."

"What?" that cockney asked, stunned "Why?"

"Cause it wasn't safe anymore, that's why!" Casino started moving off to the left but Goniff continued to stand rooted to the spot. The two staggered a bit and Casino growled. "Will you c'mon, already?"

Goniff took a couple of shuffling steps but continued to look back. Safety was…_had been,_ back there. They were supposed to meet up with the others back there if anything went wrong… "Hey! What about Actor and Chiefy? They're gonna walk right into a mess if one of us don't…"

"Don't sweat it." Casino cut in. "They'll have more 'n enough time to turn tail and get out a there. They'll know all about it around a half mile out."

"How'll they know that, then?"

"Cause that's about where they'll start seein' little bits and pieces of the place! Jeeze! Goniff, a damn Kraut patrol ran me out a there. I had the rest of the stuff with me, and a couple a things I found layin' around after you guys took off, so I blew the place, _and_ them, up when I left! Now just shut up and keep movin' will ya?"

g

An hour later Casino estimated they'd only managed to cover a little more than a mile. "This is never gonna work. We gotta get some wheels or we're never gonna get out a here."

They'd been working their way along the road, just out of sight in the cover of the trees and had watched as traffic raced towards the factory as the Germans increased security and probably organized search parties to run them down.

"How we gonna do that, just the two of us?"

Before he could answer him Garrison started to struggle. "Down. Put me down." It was only a whisper panted in Casino's ear.

The two men carefully knelt and laid their burden on the ground.

"How y'doin' Warden?" Goniff smiled down at him.

Garrison rolled his head back and forth once as he tried to gather his strength. "Where?" was all he managed to get out.

"Maybe three, four miles from the factory." Casino lied.

The Warden shook his head again and tried to get enough air for another comment.

"Forget it." Goniff and Casino said in unison, and Casino continued. "Look, we already been through this, alright? We're not leavin' unless you'r dead. And since it doesn't look like you'r dyin anytime soon," he glanced up at Goniff and they both willed that into being the truth. "You're comin' along with us." The safecracker waited a beat. "Unless you want all three of us to just sit right here until the Krauts catch up to us." He let the Warden chew that idea over for a moment. "So, do we stay, or do we go?"

It was a struggle and Garrison had to work up to it. "Go," he eventually got out, right before he passed out again.

Goniff laid two fingers along the Warden's throat for a few seconds before a grave smile lifted the corners of his mouth. The Warden was still hanging in there. Casino shrugged out of the pack and stood to stretch his sore muscles, when he caught sight of the uniform he wore the idea hit him.

g

Leaving Garrison hidden in the underbrush they moved out to the edge of the road and waited. It didn't take more than five minutes for them to hear the car. The vehicle pulled around the curve and they could see it coming towards them. It was just the kind of set up they needed and from what they could see and hear it was the only car on the road. They staggered out of the trees and up onto the road. Goniff was on the far side, they presented Casino's blood soaked uniform to the car's oncoming headlights. When the car braked to a stop and the driver shouted to them in German they turned, squinting into the lights and just waited. The arm of Goniff's tunic, saturated with the Warden's blood, was now visible. The sound of the engine changed as the driver shifted into neutral, there was a mechanical grinding as he put the brake on and then the sound of two doors opening as the occupants of the vehicle got out to come to their aid.

The German officers were only about five feet away when Casino and Goniff stepped apart, aimed their weapons and fired. Casino shot his man in the side too, without wasting any time on feeling guilty about it. They quickly stripped the uniform jacket off the captain Casino'd killed, pulled the bodies off the road and went back for the Warden.

g

Casino eased off the gas pedal a little as they approached the roadblock. There were four soldiers manning it. Two up on the road, two off to the side casually leaning against a machine gun drinking something hot out of their cups. The headlights caught the steam and caused it to glow against the dark background of the trees. There was no barricade; it looked like the Krauts thought that one machine gun would be enough to do the job…

They had enough fire power, they'd taken the weapons from the German guards outside the factory, and the officers who'd stopped on the road to help them, and they still had the pistols they'd come in with, but he was hoping they wouldn't have to use them. There was no telling if these four guys were the only ones around. Casino slowed the vehicle but didn't come to a complete stop. When he saw the guard start to open his mouth to demand their papers he bellowed 'Krankenhaus!' in the guy's face.

The man took one look at the blood staining Casino's uniform and Garrison, dressed in a blood soaked captain's jacket, laying across Goniff's knees on the back seat and responded with, "Feldkrankenhaus, Sieben-Kilometer-Osten! Biegen Sie nach rechts ab und folgen Sie den Zeichen!" The guard quickly stepped out of the way and waved them through.

Casino gunned it and within a few seconds the roadblock was out of sight behind them.

"What was all a that, then?" Goniff shouted from the back as he pulled the officer's tunic closer around the Warden.

"Jeeze! How the Hell do I know? I only got 'hospital' and 'seven kilometers'… How far's that, anyway?" Casino called over his shoulder

"Dunno. Five miles, maybe less." Goniff shouted, the wind pulling his words away and spreading them across the road behind them. "Blimey! We're not gonna be able t' bluff our way past a bloody hospital!"

"You're not kiddin' we're not. But we don't go all the way there." Casino prayed his memory was right about the map. "There's a road goes off to the left up here about a mile up. That's the one we're takin."

g

When they turned off the main highway Casino cut their speed and turned off the headlights. The road they turned onto hadn't seen much in the way of maintenance and, in the dark, it was almost impossible to see the pot holes in time to guide the vehicle around them. The car jerked and shuddered, drawing faint moans of pain from Garrison.

"Watch it, will ya!" Goniff hissed from the backseat. "You're killin' 'im back here."

"You wanna come up here and do this in the dark, Limey, you come right ahead!" Casino shot back over his shoulder, but he slowed down, almost to a crawl.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Yeah. I know. Me neither."

g

Right, right, right, left and right again. Each time they came to a fork in the road they were following he stopped and closed his eyes to bring an image of the map up in his head to get a look at it. The bloodstained original was somewhere behind them tucked into the pocket of a similarly bloodstained green jacket. Their course seemed to follow what Casino thought he remembered from the map the Warden showed him. If he made the right decisions it would take them to the hideout where the resistance was supposed to be waiting. If he made the wrong ones…. He shoved those thoughts away and concentrated on the road.

Each time they made a turn the road got smaller and rougher. They were on a rutted track now and the trees were closing in. They were far enough into the forest that the car's headlamps weren't going to give them away and it was too dark to go on without them so he pulled the knob and turned them on. As Casino made the last turn the headlights picked out an ancient old shack tucked back in a grove of spindly, moss covered trees. There was a clear space in front of it, hardly larger than the car, and he came to a halt in it and killed the motor.

The two men sat there straining to pick up any sound that they'd been followed. All they heard was silence and the ticking of the large engine as it cooled. Casino rummaged in the glove box and came up with a flashlight. The car door opened with a creak and he slid out. Leaving Goniff in the car with Garrison he started a search of the grounds around the shack.

g

Casino was thorough as he looked for the signs that Chief had shown them that would mean someone had been there. All he saw was dust. He moved up on the building, worked his way around it and, with a growing sense of unease, carefully checked the doors and windows. Just because there were no tracks left in the dirt outside didn't mean someone couldn't be waiting inside… He made it all the way around the little building without finding any sign that the place was occupied, or that entry to it had been booby-trapped. He approached the old door that still hung solidly on its hinges. Turning his head he checked behind him and found Goniff had one of the rifles up at his shoulder and was already sighted on the door.

Casino got set, took a deep breath, rocked back and kicked the door opened. He thumbed the flashlight to life at the same time he barreled through into the shack. Holding the light in one hand, and a pistol cocked and ready to fire in the other, he swept the shack's single room. It was deserted. Not satisfied with his initial impression he spent a few more minutes poking into every dark empty corner before he finally returned to the car.

"Blimey! I thought you was gonna take all night!"

g

They waited at the car for almost ten minutes after Casino checked the grounds and the building. They put the weapons, all but their original hand guns, on the hood of the vehicle to reassure the resistance group they assumed were watching them. At every creak from the trees swaying in the breeze, at every rustle of the leaves in the wind, both of them turned, expecting the underground fighters to appear. The vigil was a silent one finally ended by Goniff.

"This isn't the right place, is it?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"What'r we gonna do?" The cockney pick pocket tucked the wool tunic tighter around their injured commander. "He can't go no farther."

Casino took in a deep breath and let it out and then pushed himself off the car door where he'd been leaning. "C'mon. Let's get him inside there first, then we'll figure it out."


	5. Chapter 5

GGG

Actor felt a slight nudge on his shoulder and turned from scanning the surrounding forest to find Chief silently pointing back towards the complex. He sighted along the scout's upraised arm and concentrated on the building the young man was pointing out. It was the one Garrison and Goniff had disappeared into. For the briefest moment he thought he could make out the profile of a small, pale, face peering around the corner of the building but it disappeared too soon for him to decide if it was reality or a trick of vision. Chief bumped his arm again and directed his gaze in another direction.

"Uh oh!"

That quiet exclamation was all that was necessary. Moving towards the building where their two teammates were ransacking an engineer's office for plans were two German guards. The soldiers had their heads together, talking, their rifles ready in their hands, one of them was gesturing towards the building. Actor quickly scanned the area visible to him and then turned to the younger man and raised a questioning eyebrow. Chief shook his head. He hadn't seen anyone else either.

Actor gave a quick nod and Chief started off through the underbrush. They stayed out of sight but moved down where they could see the entrance to the research building. Chief pointed again and they both saw a tall shadow slide around the far corner and disappear.

Both of the men made a quick check of their weapons and ammunition. There was only a slight chance the Warden and Goniff would make a try for the fence where they'd originally gone through, but they'd have to be ready to cover them if they did. It was far more likely Garrison would make his way away from the research lab and go out on the other side of the complex. In that case they needed to be ready to provide a diversion to cover their escape if their activities inside were discovered too soon…. But right now they didn't know what their part would be. For now all they could do was wait, and watch. The waiting seemed interminable.

g

Actor checked his watch again. The second hand was just sweeping up to the time the Lieutenant planned to blow the lab. Fifteen seconds passed, then other fifteen. He was just about to risk a comment suggesting that there hadn't been time to set the charge, that something must have gone wrong inside, when the building was engulfed in a fireball. They were close enough that the explosion left their ears ringing.

Within moments alarms rang out throughout the complex. The fire lit up buildings along their side of the facility and they could see soldiers quickly moving in to fight the blaze. For a several minutes that's all the Germans seemed to be doing, but as soon as a small group of them broke off and started away towards the far fence both men took careful aim and fired. The effect was immediate.

All attention returned to the fence line nearest the destroyed lab. Someone turned a machine gun in their direction and strafed the fence. Several soldiers dropped onto their bellies and fired out into the underbrush, but by that time Actor and Chief had withdrawn. They held back until they were well out of range before they shot off a few rounds again. The Germans' returned fire and, through the flickering light provided by the flames, they could see someone gesturing, organizing the men into a patrol. Within moments they saw a truck, a dark shadow against the fire, pull to a halt and the soldiers were silhouetted as they loaded on the back.

They took off at a dead run and slid to a halt just in time to see the truck rumble through the gate. Dropping onto a knee Chief took careful aim and squeezed off two shots. The truck, just gaining speed, started to swerve and fishtail. The driver lost control and ended up in the shallow ditch that carried rain off the road that led to the complex. Two of the soldiers from the back of the truck were thrown out. Only one of them got up.

With their pursuers on foot now Actor and Chief did their best to draw them away from the facility to give Garrison and Goniff time to make their escape out the other side and get away. They took 'pot-shots' at the on-coming Germans to keep them interested as they led them away from the complex, and occasionally they took more careful aim and brought a man down to keep them wary. Just as the group that was following them started to thin out to a more manageable number they heard a large vehicle screech to a halt somewhere ahead in the darkness. They heard the distinct sound of boots hitting gravel and then the shouts of soldiers as they took up the hunt. Reinforcements had arrived. The pair turned and ran in earnest now, the prime objective; their own escape and survival.

ggg

Chief laid his hand on Actor's arm and brought him to a halt. They'd outrun the patrol that had been chasing them and seemed to be in the clear, but they'd been on the run for hours now and fatigue was making the con man careless. Their twisting course away from the facility had brought them close to the original safe house where they'd left Casino. Even though, by this time, the others should be long gone it would make a good place to rest, to catch their breath before they started off for the next gathering point. The young scout motioned for Actor to stay where he was and rest and he made his way towards the foundry alone. Within moments he was back. Actor stiffened at the look on his face and braced himself for bad news.

"There's a fire. You can smell it up ahead." He left the decision on what they'd do up to the older man.

"Is it the safe house?"

Chief didn't shake his head, his face never changed. "No way a tellin' without gettin' closer."

Actor took a deep breath and shoved away from the tree he'd been resting against. "Let's go."

g

They saw the damage before they ever got close enough to see the old abandoned foundry itself. Dust and ash still seemed to be sifting down out of the sky to coat the surrounding trees. Branches were bent and broken where they'd been struck by falling debris. A pall of smoke still hung over the forest. And the smell of burned wood and scorched flesh was growing stronger.

They found their first casualty, or part of him, at least thirty yards away. Incongruously a boot stood upright before them on the ground, the foot and a part of the leg with the uniform trouser still secure within it.

"Madre di Dio!"

Chief stepped a little closer to inspect the grisly artifact. German boot, wool trouser… They didn't need German uniforms for this job. _Not one of us_, he thought as he moved away towards the foundry.

Only the far corner of the building and a section of the stone furnace remained standing, the rest was mangled debris thrown towards the path that led to the site. Embers still glowed throughout the devastation. Flames continued to flicker where the heavy timbers rested together offering morbid comfort amid the ruins.

Actor stepped close, his voice low. "How long ago did this happen, can you tell?"

"Long enough to burn down to this." Chief directed the older man's gaze up one of the large trees at the edge of the clearing. The bark was scorched, the leaves withered. "Flames got all the way up there during the worst of it."

"Then there is no way to tell if Casino was still here when it happened…"

"Not without lookin'.

Taking opposite corners they sorted carefully through the wreckage, working their way in from the edges. It was grim, dirty work. Actor, sifting through the front section of the building, found what was left of a German patrol. Judging by the number of helmets, one of which he had in his hand, it appeared at least four of them had been inside when the explosion occurred. The con man studied the mangled item for a moment and wondered if they would even be able to identify Casino's body if they found it.

g

Starting in the back of the building Chief methodically worked his way towards the con man. There were two offices, neither of them appeared to have been occupied when the building blew. He moved into the corridor that led to the front of the building and continued to sort through the wreckage. Shifting the remains of a door that had separated the hall from the rest of the production area Chief's heart turned over in his chest when he caught sight of a familiar ash-covered shape. "Casino!" Heedless of the hot embers that still glowed red in the ruins he started pulling timbers and debris aside to get to it. By the time Actor reached him he'd turned the body over and found a dead German soldier staring up at him….

"Buon dio, le vostre mani!" Actor pulled him out of the wreckage and away into the safety of the trees. He found a boulder and pressed down on the young man's shoulder until he relented and finally sat down. Turning back the con man scavenged the bodies and came up with one canteen of water that was still intact. The water was warm as he poured it out to clean the grime off Chief's hands. The scout winced once and then held perfectly still.

It was hard to see in the dappled moonlight. Actor unbuttoned the jacket he wore and unzipped the pouch strapped around his waist. He extracted a small penlight and thumbed it on. He went over the young man's hands carefully "You are lucky," he told him. "It appears to be mainly blisters." But some of them were bad, and there was one area at the heel of the left hand where the flesh had torn away.

Using the tepid water Actor ruthlessly exorcized every particle of grit and dirt, every splinter of charred wood and ash he could see before he powdered the wound with a packet of sulfa and loosely wrapped the hand. He reached out to make a start on the Indian's right hand but Chief pulled it back and shook his head.

"Leave it be. It ain't that bad and that stuff'll get in the way if I need to use the blade."

Rather than waste time arguing Actor simply nodded and started packing the first aid supplies back into the pouch. He glanced up when the other man stood and started to walk away. "Where do you think you are going?"

"He could be out there somewhere. I'm gonna go find Casino."

He knew Chief would never admit that the injury he'd suffered was causing him any pain, but the shock he was experiencing from it now was certainly capable of clouding his judgment. Actor kept his voice calm, reasonable. He believed that Casino was either dead or gone, searching for him would be a waste of time but he needed to let Chief reach that conclusion in his own time. "If he was out there he would have seen us going through the wreckage and he would have come down to meet us."

"And if he's hurt?" Chief shrugged away from the hand the con man put out to restrain him. He knew Actor thought Casino was dead, … he probably was, but, somehow he couldn't give up on him. "I gotta look for him." Turning away he started to scan the ground around the ruined building, searching for foot prints, scuff marks, for drag marks, anything that would give evidence that someone was left alive after the blast. He didn't notice Actor quietly following him until he'd made a complete circuit of the foundation. Not giving the older man a chance to object he widened his circle and made another search further out, and then one more, out far enough that the blast and fire hadn't disturbed the signs left on the ground.

g

"Well?"

"The place is clean. Only tracks are the ones along the path we used." And there had been too much activity there to tell if one lone man had made his way along it away from the site of the explosion and fire. "What d'we do now, wait for Goniff and the Warden to show up?"

"I doubt that the Warden would come back here." The elegant Italian confidence man checked his watch in the moonlight. "It's almost one in the morning. He expected Casino to go on to the next safe house at eleven, remember? He would expect us to be there by now as well." He glanced at his companion. "It's nearly six miles. Can you make that?"

There was no question in his mind that he could make that, so he didn't answer. He asked a question of his own instead. "You think you can keep up with me?"

Actor gave a quick smile. "I believe so."


	6. Chapter 6

They skirted the North road keeping back out of sight in the trees. There was no traffic until they passed the turn off for the industrial complex where the research lab had been, then it was all headed in to the complex. It appeared to be trucks, from what they could hear, probably filled with men for the search parties.

They took a break and waited near the turn off, Chief straining the whole time to hear the sound of dogs. If it was only soldiers it was most likely they'd follow the first trail he and Actor laid down for them. But if there were dogs…

If there were dogs the handlers would take them into what was left of the building the Warden had blown up. The animals would sort through all the myriad smells and latch onto the odor they'd been taught meant intruder, enemy. A team would criss-cross the ground between the lab and the fence where they'd entered the complex, another team would range the facility. As soon as the dogs started to bay, signaling that they'd picked up the trail, the handlers would turn them loose.

Chief had been run down by dogs once. Once they got on your scent there was no escape. If they got close enough for you to kill one, their handlers and the men following them were close too… and by then it was too late and you were too tired to get away.

Actor was the one who started them off again. As they moved out he asked. "What were you listening for?"

"Dogs." Chief answered.

The sophisticated Italian waited for the primal chill that ran up his spine to pass. "Did you hear them?"

Chief shook his head and took the lead.

g

Actor never questioned Chief's ability to lead them to the next safe house. He knew he'd studied the map Garrison carried, and he had an innate sense of direction that they'd depended on almost from the beginning of the group. Even in the dark he seemed to be able to pick out the safest path and they were able to move quickly. The only limit to their speed was the con man's own ability and stamina and, only a few days recovered, he'd been pushing himself. When the young man raised his bandaged hand and brought them to a halt he was glad of the rest.

Chief left Actor leaning against a tree and moved closer to the edge of the road. He scanned the area to the east and west, and peered through the darkness to see if he could pick up any sign of movement on the other side of the road. Then he closed his eyes and just listened. The sound of the Italian trying to breathe quietly was loud in his ears. He did his best to shut it out and concentrated on the road and the area to the southeast. After a minute or two he was satisfied. Returning to the group's second he crouched down beside him and reported. "Can't hear any traffic up on the road. Doesn't sound like anything's followin' us."

"Are you sure we are in the right place?"

"Almost. We work our way west along the other side of the road. Should be a turn up there that takes off to the north that'll take us in. It crosses a little creek, maybe a hundred yards down. We don't see that we'll have to come back out and keep lookin'." He watched as Actor pushed himself up onto his feet. The con man reached a hand out and continued to use the tree for support. "You ready?" he asked him.

Actor's mouth lifted in a crooked smile. He was ready for a long hot bath, a decent meal, and a comfortable chair by a fire… with a fine glass of brandy and a good book. He was ready for the rest of the team to be sprawled around the room with him and decided that he would even welcome their incessant interruptions... He took a deep breath and nodded and then set out after the young Indian.

g

Even though there had been no sign of traffic they were still careful when they crossed the road. Chief led out and once he was safely across Actor followed. They worked their way through the trees staying just close enough to keep the road in view. Within three hundred feet they came to a halt on the banks of the small stream the scout expected to find. Cautiously they made their way across and continued to follow the road until it branched the first time. They paralleled the next roadway, but moved in closer, and at the next turn they moved up on the road itself. Without having to make their way through the underbrush, and with the fading light of the moon showing them the way, they were able to break into a steady lope. Chief didn't hesitate when the road forked and Actor didn't stop to question.

They were deep in the forest when the young man brought them to a stop again and moved off the road taking them straight through the trees. At every clearing the younger man stopped a moment to get his bearing, using the stars, or the mountains that surrounded them, Actor was never sure. There was no hesitation in his movements so there was no doubt in the Italian. His reliance on the young man was well founded, soon they arrived at a slight rise that looked down on a small dwelling.

Actor leaned close and whispered in the scout's ear. "How do you _do_ that?"

ggg

Chief reproduced the sound of a night bird and a few moments later he was answered by a fairly competent warble. Even after getting the signal they remained cautious, slow to reveal themselves. Faint light illuminated the windows of the building, it gradually grew bright enough to show them the pattern that was woven into the curtains that hung at the window and the shadows of the men as they moved around inside.

There was a fire burning on the hearth inside, they could smell it. They could even smell the enticing aroma of roasting meat.

The door opened and an unfamiliar figure stood silhouetted in light a moment before moving out into the clearing that fronted the small cabin. The man stood with arms outstretched and he pivoted slowly to show them he had no weapon.

Actor moved out of the shadows, cautiously approaching. Unlike the man standing in front of him the con man had his gun in his hand, the safety was off and his finger was ready on the trigger. He gave the code word and got the correct counter sign and entered the building. Chief remained hidden out in the darkness.

g

The Warden should have been the one to come out at his signal. There should have been someone on guard outside. Chief made a quick check of the perimeter and found no sign of anyone. He met the con man as he stepped back out into the small clearing that fronted the building. "We shouldn't be the first ones here. What happened?"

"How did you know?"

"Lamps burning, food cookin' inside… no guards? Not hard to figure. Warden'd never go for it. These guys must be pretty green." Chief considered the house for a moment. "Even Casino'd have 'em set a watch. He's not in there either, is he?"

"They haven't seen any sign of any of them." Actor leaned against the timber post that held up the overhang that protected the door and reached in his pocket for his pipe. "The contact says that they had men up on the road outside the factory until just a hour ago. There has been no traffic away from the facility."

"Which means if they got themselves picked up they're bein' held there."

The group's second in command shook his head as he put a flame to the tobacco and concentrated on lighting it. When he was satisfied with his efforts he glanced up. "From the plans Lieutenant Garrison showed us there was no proper place for prisoners to be held there at the factory. There is a military base not far from there…If they were transported along the road that led to it they would have been seen. I think we can discount the possibility of capture."

"They could have a patrol on their tail, like we did," the young man suggested.

Actor shook his head again. "Again, no sign of it. All of the traffic was pouring into the facility and organizing to go out again in the direction we led them. The Warden came out the other side." He rubbed the stem of the pipe along his jaw. "I suppose they could be lost…"

"Not if the Warden's leadin' 'em."

"Then that leaves only one other possibility." Actor shared a long look with his young teammate.

"Somebody's hurt and they'r hole up somewhere."


	7. Chapter 7

GGG

Once they got inside they decided to light the lamps… no one was out there to see them anyway. A small fire in the fireplace was next. When that was started they moved the bed they'd laid the Warden out on closer to the comfort of the fire and carefully added another layer of dressings over the bandages from the aid kit they found in the car. Goniff rummaged, but there was nothing to eat in the small cupboards hanging crookedly on the wall or stashed under the wooden counter that was knocked together over in the corner. There was a dusty iron pot still hanging from a bar on the hearth. He decided to take it out to the stream that ran along the road that brought them here and fill it up. If nothing else they could fill their bellies with hot water. The trip down and back didn't take long.

g

"Lookit here, what I got!" Goniff stood in the doorway, the bottom of his trousers were wet and mud spattered; the heavy iron pot pulled his right arm and shoulder down and the water that sloshed out onto the floor left a puddle for him to stand in. He raised his left hand up and a large rabbit hung limply from his fist.

Casino turned and stared. Chief was the one who usually came up with dinner out in the woods, not Goniff. Goniff could always scrounge up something to eat but he usually made use of his sticky fingers and swiped it off a table or out of some store. There was a deep rumble in Casino's chest when he took in a breath to speak. "Where'd you get that thing?"

"He come to the water to get himself a drink when I was down there. Bold as brass, he was…. Seemed a shame to leave 'im out there all on his own, so I beaned him with the pot and brung him along."

"That's great! But you know what it means?"

"A 'course I do." Goniff insisted, a note of triumph in his voice. "It means supper!"

"It _means_ you gotta skin it and gut it." Casino watched the look on Goniff's face change. He rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed. "I don't s'pose you know how to do that?"

Goniff held the rabbit out at arms length, turning it so that he was looking at the animal's face. He was good at scrounging food. Eggs, they was always easy, he thought. Fruit could be plucked from trees if you could keep clear a the farmer. And anything that he could make off with that he could find stacked up in the venders' stalls in the market square was fair game in his mind. He'd had more than his share of free meals from the handcarts blokes pushed along the streets, both in London and in New York. But he'd never gotten his own meat before, not like this anyway. He didn't have a clue how to go about turning this into something you could actually throw a lip over.

Casino shook his head, coughed and rubbed absently at his chest as he stalked towards the little pick pocket. He snatched the rabbit from his hand and he elbowed his teammate out of the way. "Give it here. I'll do it." He growled, his voice was gruffer than usual like the words were spilling out over ground glass.

Casino didn't really know what he was doing either but he figured that he'd have a better chance of getting the job done than the cockney second story man. Disappearing into the darkness he called back over his shoulder. "Get some more wood for the fire. You'r gonna need a nice bed a coals to do this up right."

"Thanks, mate!" Goniff called out to his teammate's retreating back. "A nice hot meal'll be just the ticket for the Warden when he wakes up."

"Jeeze! You crazy Limey, he's not gonna…" Casino swung back to face Goniff. He was going to tell him the Warden wasn't going to wake up. He was going to tell him to stop livin' in a dream world. He was going to tell him that, but Goniff was standing there with that dopey, hopeful grin on his face and…, "…He's not gonna be able to _eat _the stuff, stupid. We'll have t' cook some of it down to a broth for him."

"Well… Yeah. A'course! That's what I meant."

g

Casino walked across the clearing and down the slight slope to the stream. He pulled up a couple of long, narrow, strap-like leaves he found growing along the water's edge and used them to bind the rabbit's back legs together. As he twisted the leaves they emitted the delicate odor of wild onion. Casino's mouth lifted in a grim smile, looked like Chief wasn't the only one that could come up with dinner after all.

Twenty minutes later the rabbit was skinned, gutted and ready to cook. While it was bleeding out, and again while it was rinsing in the flowing water of the little stream, Casino gathered a double handful of the onions he found along the bank. There were mushrooms down there too, but he wasn't sure if he knew a good one from a bad one in the dark so he left those alone, in fact, just to be safe, he didn't go anywhere near them.

g

Goniff brightened when Casino entered the room. "That's more like it!" he chirped. He had the iron pot steaming away over the flames, and he'd found some wooden plates and a couple of tin cups along with a small iron kettle tucked away in the corner. Now that the safecracker was back he pushed up to his feet from where he'd been crouching down next to the Warden to go wash everything out down at the stream.

"Hey, do that off to the left a that big pine tree." Casino advised. "That's where I, uh….." he raised the roughly dressed rabbit and the firelight glistened on the fresh meat.

Goniff's nose wrinkled and he tried not to think about it, but he angled off to the left as he walked across the clearing and he ended up several feet upstream from the large pine to do his washing. When he returned the rabbit was already chopped and in the pot and the smell of cooking onions was beginning to make the room seem a bit more inviting. He crossed to the bed and pulled the blanket up around Garrison's shoulders and settled down in front of the fire, shoved the kettle full of water in close to coals and leaned back against the side of the cot the Warden was on. Casino wandered nonchalantly over to the corner where they'd stashed the weapons, picked up a rifle and shouldered it.

"You sure you'r up t' takin' first watched, then?" Goniff asked.

Casino walked back over to the hearth and crouched down next to the Warden. He was still breathin'. Fast and shallow, but for some reason he was still at it. He reached out and adjusted the thin wool blanket, tucking it in a little closer, then stood again, and turned for the door. "I'm gonna walk back down that damn road and find out where I got us turned around."

Goniff was on his feet in an instant. "Are you barmy? You can't do that!"

"Well we can't stay here." Casino turned back to face him over the Warden's cot.

"I know that, but…. But," Goniff tried to come up with something that would make sense, make Casino change his mind "But you'r sick and..."

"Which is why I gotta get out a here before I unload this crud on the Warden."

Without thinking Goniff gave a laugh. "The way you was carryin' 'im? If he's gonna catch that stuff you already give it to 'im, mate."

"Swell." Casino cleared his throat and turned for the door. "Thanks for pointin' that out."

Goniff closed his eyes for a second as he realized what the other man was probably thinking. Hurt as he was if the Warden got sick on top of it he was probably a goner. "Blimey, Casino, I didn't..." But he could see that he wasn't going to stop him with an apology, he'd have to try something else. "… But we should stick together."

"Oh sure!" Casino swung back around and jabbed a stiffened finger down at their wounded leader. "Haulin' him along while we traipse up and down all those crummy roads 'til we finally find the right one'll do him a world a good now won't it?"

"No, but…" Goniff was running out of arguments and he waved his hand in the general direction of the pot that hung over the fire. "But you can't go 'thout havin' a bite a somethin'. Just wait for that, eh?"

"And by then he could be… Jeeze, Goniff! It's the only way." Casino turned away and started for the door again, the little cockney right on his heel. He grabbed the door knob but Goniff stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"What if somebody sees you out there? What then?"

"There's nobody out there to see me." He insisted without turning around.

"Then what if you get lost out there and can't find you'r way back here?"

He continued to stare at the door. "I'm not gonna get lost."

"You ain't Chiefy, mate," the pick pocket reminded him quietly.

"So I'll pretend." Casino tried to make a joke of it, but it didn't come out the right way.

"Well…. Well, but what if somebody finds us here when it's just me and him?"

"Goniff, _we_ can't even find us here!" Casino flung his hand towards the weapons stacked in the corner. "You got enough firepower there to hold off an Army. C'mon, you know we gotta do it like this."

"Yeah, I know." The door opened and his teammate and friend moved through with a resolute stride, closing the door behind him. "That don't mean I gotta like it."

Goniff continued to stand at the small window and watched until Casino disappeared around the sharp curve the track that had brought them here took. "You be careful out there, mate." He stood for a few more moments staring out into the darkness, then he turned back to check on the Warden.


	8. Chapter 8

ggg

He didn't want to leave. At the same time he wanted to get just as far away from there as humanly possible. He remembered the look on Goniff's face and knew that the pick pocket was thinking the same thing. The little Limey didn't want to stay, but it would take wild horses to drag him away. That, or Garrison being dead…. He shoved that thought away for now and wondered how the Warden would be feeling if he was the one walkin' out that door. He'd look at all the options, Casino decided, and figure out the best way to accomplish his damn mission. Then he'd take off and do just that, without a second thought. That's what he'd do! And as soon as the thought entered his head he knew it wasn't true. It was just easier for him to believe that right now than it was to admit to himself that the Warden agonized over his decisions, just like anyone else did.

g

There was a rustle in the trees ahead and then the call of a night bird. Instead of giving the counter sign Casino called out in a hoarse, angry, whisper that ended in a cough. "Where 'n the Hell have you been?"

"Lookin' for you." Chief answered back in a quiet voice as he stepped out of the trees just in front of the group's safecracker.

Actor ignored the exchange between the two men when he materialized out of the darkness, reaching a hand out to Casino's blood soaked tunic instead. "You've been injured!"

Casino glanced down, "Ain't mine…"

"Whose?" Chief asked, but the fact that this part of the team had gotten themselves lost had already given him his answer.

"Warden's."

"What happened?" the scout asked.

"Jeeze! You know the Warden! The Krauts started shootin' and he got in the way like he always does." Casino turned on his heel. "C'mon. They're back this way."

g

Casino had been dragging his feet on the way out, even though he'd never admit it, and had only gotten himself about two hundred yards down the road from the shack. They made their way back at a run. He didn't bother with the whistled signal when they hit the small clearing, just called out to Goniff as they made their way across to the front of the building. By the time they reached the door it was already open.

Goniff stood there, relieved, thankful they were all together again, but wide-eyed and frightened. "He's chokin'! Casino, I think he's chokin' on somethin'!"

Actor shouldered his way into the small room and headed straight for the cot in front of the fireplace. Garrison lay almost face down on the narrow bed, a German tunic rolled into a ball jammed under his shoulder, another one draped over his back to supplement the thin blanket. His breathing was short, shallow and labored as he struggled for air. Even in the warm light thrown off by the fire on the hearth and the lamp that burned on the table behind him his skin had a bluish cast.

Actor folded the coverings out of the way and made a quick assessment of the bloodied captain's tunic. He pulled the wadded jacket out, quickly turned the Warden's head and soon had him rolled onto his uninjured side. The Lieutenant's color changed from slightly blue to grey, his breathing gradually eased and slowed a bit. The Italian con man used the two jackets for support under their injured leader's hip and shoulder. Dropping into a crouch at Garrison's back he wordlessly held out his hand, curling his fingers around the butt of Chief's knife as it was slapped into his palm.

The group's medic used the razor sharp blade to cut the fabric of the Warden's tunic and shirt and peeled it away to reveal the hastily applied bandages now soaked through with blood.

"Where did this happen?" Actor asked quietly.

"In the forest right outside a that Bloody factory." Goniff answered in the same low voice.

Actor laid his fingers along Garrison's throat at the angle of his jaw. The pulse was there. Rapid and weak, and slightly irregular, but the pulse was still there. "How did you ever manage to get him this far?" The con man asked, but to himself he was thinking _'How did he manage to survive this long?'_

"Me an' Casino carried him, mostly," Goniff answered. "And when we got to the road we pinched a car."

"A car? Actor, can we take him back in that?" Chief asked.

Actor shook his head and started patting down his pockets. "I don't believe we should risk moving him until the doctor's seen him."

"Doctor?" Casino and Goniff said in unison.

"Do you have something to write on?" Their second in command demanded.

"'ere use this." Goniff pulled up the tail of his shirt up and removed all the blueprints and documents the Warden had given him and shoved them into Actor's hands.

Actor quickly sorted through the documents and found a page that seemed to have only a signature and date. He used the back of it to write out a hasty note and handed it off to Chief along with the young man's switch blade. Chief left without comment.

Casino coughed and turned from staring at the empty door to staring at the Italian con man. "Where's he goin?"

"It should be obvious, even to you, Casino, that you have arrived at the wrong location! He's going back to let the others know we've found you." Actor regretted his harsh comment almost immediately. The look on his quarrelsome teammates face told him that he knew full well what his error might cost. "Casino…" he started, but anything else he might have come up with was lost in the slamming of the door as the east coast con went out to guard their sanctuary.

"Doctor?" The pick pocket's voice held a note of hope. "You said them bloke's got a doctor?"

"Yes, there is one among the group of men who met us." Actor answered as he slipped out of his jacket and arranged it over Garrison's legs.

"D' you think…..?" Goniff let the question hang in the air between them.

"I don't know, Goniff."

Actor turned his attention back to the Warden. From the placement of the bandages the wounds were serious. The one in his side had gone all the way through and the dressings were bloody on both sides. From the way Garrison was breathing the lung was at least partially collapsed. The bulk of the dressing on his back lay just to the side of his spine. "Goniff," he asked quietly, "his legs? Has he moved his legs?"

Goniff dropped into a crouch next to their second in command. "A little. At first… Maybe."

ggg

Since he'd covered the ground twice already Chief knew there was very little danger of being discovered by the Germans so he chose speed over silence. He didn't bother with the roads either. Depending on his sense of direction he headed straight through the forest and made his way unerringly to the safe house. He gave the whistled signal as he approached but didn't wait for a response. Opening the door he ignored the weapons leveled at him and walked confidently up to the man Actor had talked to before and handed him the note from the con man. He didn't understand enough of the language to know what was going on, all he could do was wait impatiently as the four men discussed the note and hammered out how they were going to respond to it. The few seconds that took seemed like an hour and as soon as he got the signal from the group's leader he turned on his heel and led them away from the safe house at a run. They were back at the shack where the others waited in less than thirty minutes.

The underground team straggled in after him, the last to arrive was the doctor. Chief and Goniff watched as Actor rose to meet him and report in rapid French what he'd learned from Goniff. Working together the two men stripped the Warden out of the remains of his shirt and carefully removed most of the bandages. After cleaning and probing the injury in Garrison's side and flooding it with iodine the doctor pulled a small box out of his bag and started stitching the wounds closed. When he was satisfied with the job he swabbed another patch of skin a little higher up with the iodine. He pulled out another box and attached a long heavy needle to a glass syringe that rested inside. In a swift, smooth motion, he jabbed the needle into the Warden's back. The only thing that saved him from Chief's knife was Actor's upraised hand.

Goniff took a hasty step back as bloody fluid filled the syringe. He bumped into Chief and leaned into him for a moment for support. When the pick pocket turned on him he was glassy eyed and almost as pale as the Warden. Chief grabbed him by the elbow and turned him towards the door. "Come on, Goniff. Let's me and you go find Casino."

g

They found the group's demolitions man in the trees on the other side of the small clearing in a spot where he had a good view of the narrow road and the shack. Goniff was still leaning on the Indian. Casino moved forward and grabbed the second story man's other arm and hustled him over to a fallen log. Once they had the English thief settled on the log with his head between his knees Casino turned on the scout.

"Well?" And he started to ask the question, all the while dreading the answer. "The Warden… Is he… He's not…?" All he got for an answer was Chief silently shaking his head.

They settled down on the log together to wait it out. Goniff raised his head after a few moments and picked at the bandage on Chief's left hand. "What happened t' you, mate?"

"Nuthin'." And the youngest member of the group cut off further questions by turning his back and leveling a steady gaze at the little shack where Actor and that doctor were working on the Warden. They sat in silence for a long time before Chief spoke again. "Me and Actor went back there… What happened?"

Casino cleared his throat before he started, his voice was rough, his throat felt like he'd swallowed a handful of razorblades. "The Krauts came nosin' around. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes after you guys left. I hid in the back but they come in and it looked like they weren't gonna leave…. They had me cut off." He shrugged his shoulders. "So I blew the joint and took off."

The scout nodded in the darkness. "How'd you hook up with the Warden?"

"Saw 'em head out when they left that plant back there." It took a moment for Casino to continue. "I,… I followed, but I couldn't… I wasn't close enough to…."

"Casino,..." But whatever words of comfort or condemnation Chief would have offered were cut off when the door to the shack open and they saw Actor step out.

g

Almost half an hour had crawled by before the con man showed up and joined them outside. They waited for him to complete the ritual of lighting his damned pipe after he strolled over to the log.

"You gonna tell us what's goin' on in there?" Casino demanded.

"The doctor has decided that it would be too dangerous to move the Lieutenant tonight. He said if the Warden survives until morning it will be because God wills it, not because of any skill of his."

They sat together for several minutes before Casino broke the silence. "He'll make it." There was a grim determined edge to his voice.

"Sure he will." Goniff tried to sound confident too. Another couple of minutes ticked by before he ventured, "His legs? What'd that bloke say 'bout his legs?"

Actor ran a weary hand over his eyes. "He told me that wasn't his area of expertise, Goniff. The wound wasn't bleeding so we didn't disturb the bandages you two managed to put on. He applied a clean dressing and said that if we could get the Warden back there, we would have to wait for the physicians in England to evaluate any damage that might have been done to his spine."

Chief watched as Casino stared off towards the shack. "Casino, you didn't…"

"I know I didn't!" The shout caused a deep rumbling cough but he shrugged off Goniff's effort to help, shouldered the rifle and stalked off into the trees.

g

_I didn't get there in time_. Casino ignored the burning sensation in his chest as he made his way around the shack. _I didn't get there in time._ The thought was the only thing that kept him company. _I made it all worse by movin' him_, added itself when he finished the first lap. Halfway through the second round of the building _I let 'em get shot_ had joined the crowd of thoughts that now played over and over in Casino's head. He avoided the other men as he made his way around the building. After a few attempts they gave up on him and went back inside.

_I didn't get there in time. I made it all worse by movin' him. I let him get himself shot. I didn't grab the guy in time. I shouldn't a moved him. He's gonna be a cripple because of me. I didn't get there. He's gonna die because I blew it._ The words played over and over in his head as he made his way endlessly around and around the small building through the night. When the sun started to lighten the sky in the East he didn't see it. When the birds started to sing in response to the oncoming morning he couldn't hear them. _I didn't get there in time_ was the only thing he could hear and the blood on the back of the Warden's jacket was the only thing he could see.

g

Chief watched Casino as he moved past him. He called out to him but the safe cracker ignored him and continued on. He paced him for a while then moved ahead and stood in his path. Casino continued to march woodenly towards him and was only stopped when Chief put out his hand and it connected with the older man's shoulder. The group's demolitions expert jerked back and stood staring at him.

"C'mon, man. They got the Warden loaded." Chief said quietly. "We're ready to leave."

"You find the car?" Once they'd gotten Garrison settled he'd hidden the vehicle by driving it off and burying it under a layer of branches he'd torn off the trees. It probably hadn't been all that hard for the scout to find.

Chief nodded. "Guys we met up with have a truck. Doc 'n Actor say it'll be easier on him."

Casino's eyes left his younger teammate's face and he scanned the small clearing that fronted the shack. He noticed the truck for the first time and snorted in disgust. "Great," he said. "Missed that too didn't I? Some sentry."

"Pappy, you…"

"Don't start!" Casino cut him off. He stood looking at the shack, absently rubbing at his chest. When the door opened and Goniff stepped out he turned on his heel and started away into the brush. "I'll follow you guys and find someplace to dump the car," was all he said as he walked away.

Goniff jogged up and joined the group's point man. "Hey, I thought we was ready to leave. Where's he off to?"

"Said he's gonna dump the car."

The little pick pocket scratched at the back of his head a moment then shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "Guess I better go along. The mood 'ee's in he's just as like to dump 'imself along with it."

"Think you can convince him?"

Goniff shook his head. "You know 'im, mate. He'll have t' convince hisself."

Chief's response was just a silent arching of his left brow before he turned to join Actor on the truck.

g

The truck rocked gently as Chief climbed aboard. He moved up to the front where Actor was hovering over the Warden.

"How is he?" they said in unison. Actor waited, allowing the young man to go first.

"Sick. Tired. Feelin' guilty." Chief reported on Casino.

"Did you talk to him?"

One shoulder raised a fraction of an inch, then dropped. "Tried." Chief waited a moment then lifted his chin towards Garrison. "What about him?"

Before Actor could answer the Lieutenant jerked awake and was trying, vainly, to raise himself from his pallet.

"Try not to move."

"I can't!"

Neither of them had ever heard fear or panic in the Warden's voice before. They both heard it there now, but only for an instant. Garrison gave up on his struggle and let his head rest back against the blanket they'd rolled and placed under his right shoulder to keep him propped up on his side. He focused on them for a moment before closing his eyes again and speaking, his voice a quiet monotone.

"Goniff and Casino… I got them killed, didn't I?"

"No!" The response, again, came in unison from the two crouched in front of him but the Warden was already unconsciousness.

g

The truck rocked from side to side as the men from the resistance loaded in front and back. The engine coughed and the gears groaned as the driver pulled out. Through the flap at the back they could see Casino and Goniff trailing them in the car the two men had hijacked.

Chief touched Actor lightly on the arm to get his attention. "You'r beat, man. Get some rest. I'll keep an eye on him for a while."

The conman didn't argue, he just leaned back against one of the struts that made up the truck's canopy and closed his eyes.

Actor slept for almost the whole trip out. Chief kept watch but the Warden never moved.


	9. Chapter 9

ggg

Casino spent a frustrating hour trying to write the letter home to tell his folks what happened. He knew the Lieutenant sent word to them whenever he got hurt and he thought it only right that he do the same and rat the Warden out. The scattering of crumpled papers that was on the desk and littering the office floor around the trash can was a testament to how well he was doing.

A couple of things were causing his trouble. The censors for one. Any details he put down would be black-lined or cut out if the military censor thought the information could be useful to the Krauts if the mail was intercepted. His parents would get just enough of the story to make them worry and not enough to reassure them, not that he had much to tell them that was going to be reassuring... His own guilt was another factor. He was having a hard time trying to explain how the Warden had gotten hurt because he blew it. Finally he gave up, scratched a note quickly on a blank scrap of paper and headed down the hall with it. A few doors down from the Warden's office where he'd been working, or trying to, he stopped and knocked. When he heard permission called from inside he shoved the door open to find Sergeant Major Gilbert Rawlins sitting at his own desk attending to the paperwork required to keep their small base going.

Rawlins glanced up and wasn't surprised to see Casino standing there. The other three were in the city, close to the hospital where Lieutenant Garrison was being cared for, but, though he'd made one short trip in to check on him, Casino had kept close to the base since being released from the hospital after the mission claiming that he was too sick to be let in around their injured commander. He hadn't been in on the official debriefing but Gil had gotten an account of what had happened from each one of the men as they all waited in the hospital those first long hours after the group returned. He didn't think he'd gotten all the facts, but he had enough to know the team's demolitions expert was probably holding himself responsible for the CO's injury.

Rawlins didn't look up. "Yes, lad," he said as he dropped another file in the OUT basket. "What's on your mind?"

"I need to send a telegram."

The statement, Rawlins noted, was delivered with the belligerent edge of someone who expected their request to be denied. "Is that it, there?" Gil asked as he held his hand out for the paper the other man had been folding and refolding. "Come now, give it here. You know I'll need to see it."

Casino only hesitated for a moment before he pushed himself off the door frame and stalked across the room. He glanced down at the paper and read the message one more time before tossing it onto the desk for the Sergeant Major's inspection.

Gil picked up the paper, noted the address and read through the short message.

_Warden got hit on a job._

_Lung probably OK_

_Legs probably not._

_The rest of us are OK._

_Casino_

He took a rubber stamp from his desk and affixed the mark and then initialed it before handing it back. "Here, the boys over in communications can send it out for you…. But I expect you'd rather send it when you go into the city." He didn't give the man a chance to choose, drawing another paper from his desk and quickly filling it out instead. He handed over the form releasing a jeep and giving permission for Casino to be off the grounds for twenty-four hours. "Off you go, then. Tell the Lieutenant I'll be in to check on him tomorrow morning." Lifting a stack of papers out of the IN basket Gil swiveled around in the chair to face the typewriter, cutting off the other man's chance to refuse.

Casino stood there as he dealt with the conflicting urges. He wanted to go in and see for himself how the Warden was doing. He didn't want to face Garrison after what he'd done. But he had to let his folks know what had happened. Ma would kill him if she ever found out…he amended that; _when_ she eventually found out. Once she did, sooner or later she'd manage to wheedle all the details out of him too, and he wasn't looking forward to her finding out he'd been the one responsible for…. He folded the papers away in his pocket and gave a great sigh as he turned for the door. She'd know he'd blown it big time when they packed him up and shipped him back to the joint, might as well get it over with.

g

There was a place they usually stayed when they were allowed to go into the city. The other guys had a room there but Casino didn't figure they'd want him around so he bought a bed in a flea trap on the other side of town from the hospital. He sent the wire and went back to the room to wait. On the way back he stopped at a place Goniff had shown him to pick up a bottle. In the room he set himself up by the window, opened the bottle, poured a shot into the water-spotted glass that he found sitting on the wash basin and then just sat there and stared at it.

Three hours later he was still sitting there staring at it.

He didn't deserve a drink. He didn't deserve to get drunk and forget what he'd done. He didn't have the right to forget that if the Warden never walked again it was going to be because of him. As he continued to stare at the glass on the windowsill in front of him those thoughts that had kept him company since the shooting came back again and started swirling around and around inside his head….

A knock at the door and someone calling out 'Telegram' startled him out of his trance. He checked his watch. another two hours had gone by. Looked like his parents must have been home when that wire got there.

"Telegram!" the messenger in the hall called out a little louder.

"Yeah! Alright, alright, I'm comin' already. Keep you'r shorts on!" Casino took the two steps required to cross the small room and yanked the door open. An older man wearing thick glasses stood in the dimly lit hallway outside the door. The guy wore a cap shoved back on his head and there was a bag slung across his chest, the yellow envelope containing the wire was in his left hand. He held it out and, after it had been snatched from him, continued to stand there, his hand still hanging out there, but the hopeful look his face had originally worn had turned slightly disappointed.

Casino considered him for a moment. He didn't have much cash on him. The room was dirt cheap but he'd paid for the wire and then most of what he'd had left in his wallet had gone to the black-market for the bottle of booze that was sitting back on the window sill…. "Hang on a minute." Leaving the courier standing there staring at his back Casino walked over to the window, capped the bottle, picked up the glass and downed the shot, then returned to the door and handed the bottle over. He slammed the door on the 'thanks mate!' and went to sit on the bed. It took him a little time to work up the courage to tear open the envelope and read the telegram.

Hous**e** alr**e**ad**y** s**e**t up. Stop

If n**ee**d**e**d h**e** com**e**s h**e**r**e**. Stop

T**e**ll him no back talk. Stop

W**e** lov**e** **y**ou. Stop

Ma. End

He sat there and looked at the paper for a long time. 'We love you'… Not 'we love you all'. Not 'we love you both'. 'We love you'. '**you**', …. just him. Casino crumpled the paper in his hands, turned to stare out the window and wished he hadn't given that bottle away.

ggg

Casino arrived in the ward where they'd put Garrison just in time to see Actor walk out of the private room they had him in. The con man hadn't seen him, he stretched and started off away from him down the hall. If he let Actor go he wouldn't have to face him, but to find out about the Lieutenant he'd probably have to go into that room and there was a chance the Warden might be awake. Casino wasn't ready for that so he hustled himself down the hall and caught up with the big Italian just as he punched the button for the lift. Actor turned just before he laid his hand on him.

"Casino!" the taller man acknowledged his teammate. "It's late." Actor's voice was flat with fatigue. "I'd given up on ever seeing you here again."

The lift rattled to a stop and the doors opened, Actor turned, prepared to abandon his trip downstairs for a coffee but, instead of heading back down the hall for the Warden's room, Casino stepped past him and into the car. The con man's brow lifted and he considered the man a moment before he joined him. They rode down to the ground floor in silence, silence which continued as they made their way to the cafeteria. Actor bypassed the offerings in the steam trays, the food here was atrocious, and headed straight for the large urn of coffee that sat on a table in the corner. He poured a cup and handed it off to the safecracker, then poured his own. When he turned around he found Casino had already settled himself at one of the booths that lined the walls.

Casino watched their second approach the table. "How come you'r still here? Is he worse?"

"No. He's improved enough that they've taken the chest tube out." Actor took a sip of his coffee and waited for the slight surge of energy from the caffeine.

They'd stayed round the clock until the doctors told them Garrison was stable and insisted they leave to get their own rest. The three of them had continued to share watch over the Warden since they'd brought him in. Goniff and Chief had remained in the city with him, but Casino, who had avoided them on the boat trip back to England and had spent the first two days back in the hospital being treated himself, had been banned from the hospital room because of his illness and had returned to the mansion.

"Why don't you go in and see for yourself?" Actor suggested. "He's been asking for you."

Casino shook his head and manufactured a cough. "I'm stayin' outta there. Jeeze! Gettin' this crud is the last thing he needs." It was good news about the lungs. Goniff had called out to the mansion yesterday and told Rawlins that Phillips hoped they could get rid of that tube. But that wasn't the worst of it. Casino picked up the container of powdered milk and added some to his coffee even though he usually took it straight up and black. "What about his legs?"

Actor watched as Casino stirred his coffee and studiously avoided making eye contact with him. He was certain he knew what the problem was but unless he could get this extremely stubborn man to talk about it there was very little chance he could help him. "No change. His blood pressure and temperature have been stable though, the doctors are encouraged by that."

Casino just grunted. That sure would be something to write home about wouldn't it? _'Hey, the guy'll never walk again, but that's not so bad 'cause his lousy temperature's OK!….' _

"He's been bothered by nightmares again."

'_Who wouldn't be'_, the safecracker thought. '_But goin' through the rest of his life in a wheelchair isn't a nightmare for the Warden anymore, it's reality.' _He didn't say that though, and he did his best to keep what he was thinking off his face. "Jeeze! Are we all dead again?" he tried to joke. He didn't manage to sell it.

"No, only you and Goniff." Actor leaned back and stretched, arching his back against the booth. "Goniff has been in to talk to him, yesterday he finally started to believe he wasn't some sort of delusion. But we can't convince him that you are all right." He reached out for the cup and took another sip of his coffee. "It seems he has convinced himself that his mistake over in France has cost you your life and that we are keeping it from him…"

"_**His**_ mistake! I was the one who…" Casino stuttered to a stop when he saw the look on the con man's face.

"The one who, what, Casino?" Actor had already been through this with Goniff. In his case, the little pick pocket blamed himself for being too close,... For getting in the way and causing Garrison to fall before he could eliminate the threat the guard posed.

Casino snatched his cup off the table and took a hit, then slammed it down again, sloshing coffee out of the cup and across the surface of the table. "I should a been closer, damn it! I should a got that guy before…."

"Before you sneezed?" Actor's smile of sympathy was genuine. "Casino you had no control over that… No one does."

"But I still…."

"If the guard had turned it could have been you who was injured or killed. As it was you provided a diversion, just as you were expected to. The Warden simply wasn't in the correct position to take advantage of it and he was injured. That's all."

"But.."

"And being out of position is exactly what he's blaming himself for."

"What?" Casino frowned across the table. "Jeeze! Is he nuts!"

Actor gave in to a yawn and then smiled. "No more than you are, my friend."

"But I had a clear shot at the guy and…"

"No, you did not. Not if what you told Colonel Reynolds in the initial debriefing was the truth." Actor didn't give him any time to argue that point. "Besides, even if you had, you couldn't have taken that shot. It would have drawn a German patrol down on you."

"There wasn't a patrol out there!"

"You weren't to know that!

"But he wouldn't be…"

"Casino, enough!" Actor was tired, and it showed. Picking up his cup he finished the coffee and sat the mug aside. A memory came to him and he smiled across at the safecracker. "How did you so elegantly put it?" In a fair imitation of Casino's voice he repeated. "Hey, babe, you can only do the best you can do,… ya know?"

"Yeah, but…." and Casino stopped arguing when he realized what he'd just heard. "Hey! You remember that?" he said with a note of wonder. "You actually listen to what I say?"

"Only when you say something worthy of being listened to and retained." The elegant Italian let his shoulders droop and did nothing to stifle the yawn that overtook him. "So far it has not happened very often so it hasn't been very taxing." He pushed out of the booth and stood looking down at his teammate for a moment. "The Warden needs someone with him and I am exhausted. I am afraid it is up to you." He turned for the door but was halted by the safecracker's hand on his arm.

"But I can't go in there. My cough…"

"…was rendered harmless three days ago." The cough had started before they left France and by the time they'd reached England was deep and rumbling. The doctors prescribed pills and admitted him to the hospital to undergo a set of breathing treatments, he'd even sat in with him when he took the first one. "Go and sit with him Casino. It will do you both good."

Casino watched Actor walk across the room and disappear out the door. He looked down at the mess he'd made of the table and used a moment to wipe the spill up with a damp rag he found in the next booth over. He gathered up the cups and put them in the bin with the other dirty dishes to use up a little more time, and then turned to survey the room. It was late, there was only one other person in there, an orderly who was asleep over in the corner. He knew what Actor was doing to him... Just like he knew he'd fallen for it. The Warden shouldn't be left alone up there, especially not if he was havin' those dreams… And now he was the only one left to go up and do the job.

"Well,… Hell!" Dropping the dirty rag in the bin with the soiled dishes he stiff-armed his way through the swinging doors out into the main hall. Ignoring the convenience of the lift in favor of speed Casino headed for the stairs and took them, two-at-a time, back up to the ward.


	10. Chapter 10

GGG

"Casino!"

The look of relief that washed over the Warden's face when he carefully opened the door and stepped into the room was enough to make Casino feel guilty all over again, this time for staying away.

"Thank God! I thought…"

"I know what you thought." His tone was gruff but it softened a little as he continued. "You were just dreamin' again, that's all."

Garrison tried to turn in the bed, but the brace prevented it. "Look, I'm sorry. I could've gotten you guys killed out there. I should have…."

"…_should have _what? Taken that guy?" Casino asked as he settled himself on the chair next to the hospital bed. "I _should have _been able to do it too. But we both blew it. OK? Stuff like that happens. Should a, would a, could a…. It's nobody's fault." He knew by the look in the Warden's eyes that was going to take a while to sink in because he was only just beginning to believe it himself. Casino started searching around for some way to change the subject but Garrison beat him to it.

"It's late." He remembered the cold that caused him to take Casino off the mission once they hit the ground over in France. He also vaguely remembered hearing a rumble in his chest as he and Goniff carried him through those woods, and then the deep cough… "You've been sick. What in the hell are you doing down here? You'd be better off in bed."

"I'm fine. I just..." Casino started. He didn't want to let on that he was down here because he was just plain worried…. But for some reason he couldn't seem to think fast enough to come up with a good story. In a panic he blurted out the first thing that came into his head. "There was a telegram. I thought I ought a bring it down."

If he'd been thinking straight that never would have passed inspection. First, the Army didn't use telegrams they used dispatches. Second, he didn't have anyone who would send him a personal telegram. Third, if he did, Sergeant Major Rawlins would deliver it himself, or send one of the clerks, not entrust it to one of the men. But he wasn't thinking straight yet and so Garrison simply stuck his hand out. When all he got from his explosives expert was a blank look he snapped his fingers and prompted. "Well, let's have it."

Casino gave half a thought to asking the Warden what in the hell he was talking about, trying to pass it off as some sort of delusion from him bein' hurt, or the drugs or something. That thought went out the window when he took another look in Garrison's eyes. They were still a little vague, but getting sharper and sharper by the second as he delayed doing as he was told. He finally heaved a sigh, reached into his pocket and surrendered the wire. It wasn't until he saw Garrison start to straighten out the paper that he realized a copy of the outgoing message was there too. He'd crushed them into his pocket together back at the flop house.

Craig smoothed the paper out and read through the first handwritten note, then the response. He read through both of them again before he looked up to see Casino with his head down. His quarrelsome con was busy studying his hands, and he was flushed red to the roots of his hair. He considered the top of that dark head a moment before he carefully folded the papers together and laid them on the bed next to his leg. When the safecracker reached out and crumpled them in his fist Garrison caught his sleeve. Casino glanced up at him. "I think you'd better keep those."

Casino locked eyes with him for a moment before he gave a quick nod. He withdrew his hand and stuffed the papers back down in his pocket and then he pushed up onto his feet and started to pace. He made a tour of the room before he cleared his throat and turned on the Warden. "So. How 'r you doin' Warden?"

"I think you guys probably know more about that than I do." Garrison's voice trailed off for a moment. "They've been sticking needles into me all day."

"What for?"

He shrugged. "Some kind of test to see what works and what doesn't."

"Well? What'd they find out?"

Garrison gave a snort. "They don't tell _me_!" The Warden's voice was ripe with disgust and frustration. "_I'm _only the patient. Some of these guys, these specialists, walk in here and work me over like I'm some kind of a lab rat. Then they talk over the bed," he tossed his hand in the direction of the far corner of the room. "Or huddle over there and talk about me like I'm either not here or too stupid to bother with. If I could get up and…"

"When," Casino interjected.

Garrison sputtered to a stop and moment later he turned his face away from his demolitions expert.

"_When_ you get up." Casino insisted again.

The Warden took a deep breath and swallowed. Casino decided to change the subject.

"D' you know that damned pack a yours weighed almost sixty-five pounds? You mind tellin' me what 'n the Hell you thought you were doin' back at that factory when you stuffed all those stupid things in there?" He had to wait a moment for the Lieutenant to collect himself and answer.

"Well,… Goniff suggested I ought to get a hobby once, remember?" Garrison shrugged and answered with a wan smile… "I thought maybe models….?"

Casino's eyes narrowed and he brought a stiffened finger up, prepared to tell the Warden just how much of a 'bone headed' idiot he was, then he gave an exasperated snort… He'd never listen, and he'd never change anyway, so why waste the energy? Besides Actor said that pack full of metal had probably saved his life. When they unpacked it and sorted through it all during the initial debriefing with Reynolds they'd found the place where the bullet smashed itself flat against one of the models. That hunk of metal had been shoved hard enough into Garrison's back by the slug that it had left a deep divot of a wound and the doctors figured it had shocked his spinal cord and left him paralyzed...but it had stopped the bullet.

"Well… Jeeze!" Casino tossed his hands in the air and plopped down on the edge of the bed. "Next time pick somethin' lighter, like...like tin soldiers or little toy trains, will ya?" When he caught the grimace on the Lieutenant's face he shot to his feet again. "Oh, man, I'm sorry! You alright? You need a doctor, or somethin'?

"That hurt." Garrison's gritted out, his voice caught on the words. In the next second his eyes went wide and he made a fist and struck his upper leg. His eyebrows shot up and he turned to stare at Casino who was still frozen by the bed. "That hurt!"


	11. Chapter 11

g

It took longer than usual to get the Warden away from Dr. Phillips down at the hospital. No matter how much the Lieutenant disagreed or how he argued his case Phillips figured all those broken ribs, that collapsed lung and the injury to his back needed to stay in the hospital and, being a doctor, he had the last word. All of them continued to go down and keep him company. Casino did his best to be there when the physical therapists started to work him over up in his room, and then, later, when Garrison went down to take his sessions in the therapy department. He even learned how to do some of the stuff. Make the transfer from the bed to the chair, then from the chair up to stand with the help of the braces and canes. And he was the one who was there when the Warden took his first steps.

Garrison still managed to get out a couple of weeks early, on good behavior,… and because the cons promised to keep an eye on him. With four experienced 'parole officers' Phillips decided he couldn't get into too much trouble. He was making remarkable progress so, with a warning not over do it, the doctor finally let him go.

ggg

They ignored his protests and brought the car around the back, right up on the lawn near the terrace outside the Warden's office so he wouldn't have to tackle the steep set of stairs that led up to the front entrance. Even the few steps up the back way and the short distance he had to travel across the stone terrace winded him and he pulled the chair away from his desk and took a seat to rest. Goniff went off to organize a drink in celebration, Actor headed for the kitchen to bring up the soup Winnie'd left for him, Chief stood just off the Warden's left shoulder in case he needed anything and Casino picked up his kit bag and headed for the door that adjoined his office.

"We set you up in here again." Opening the door just enough to set the bag inside he turned on their leader, fists planted on his hips, his voice as scornful as ever. "As often as we gotta do this I don't know why you don't just pack everything up and move it down here permanent."

"And make it even easier for you guys to get out that window?" Laughing hurt, and Garrison just managed to avoid it. "Not a chance, Casino."

Casino dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "You being up there's never stopped us…. Man, knockin' that bed apart and hauling it down those stairs was a pain in the butt."

"The bed?" Garrison sat forward in the chair and started to get up, thought better of it and leaned gingerly back again. "Why didn't you just set up the cot like before?"

An irritated thumb was jerked in the direction of the door that had just opened to admit Actor and Goniff bearing their trays. "Orders from his Highness, here. I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted you'd be more comfortable."

"Casino," Actor said as he moved the steaming bowl of soup off the tray and onto the desk in front of the Warden. "As I recall, it was you who first brought up rearranging the furniture. The fact that I agreed with you and organized the move does not make me entirely responsible for it." Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Garrison shoving the bowl aside just as Goniff arrived at his elbow with the tray of drinks. Taking a brandy for himself he lifted the hi-ball glass full of milk off the tray and sat it down next to the soup bowl. "Lieutenant, the only reason you were released before lunch was served at the hospital was the promise we all made Doctor Phillips that you would eat as soon as you arrived, and then go straight to bed." Turning a pointed gaze on the younger man he continued. "I heard you make that promise as well. What kind of an example will you be setting for us if you go back on your word?"

Garrison just rolled his eyes and picked up the spoon. The others laughed and sipped at their drinks as he ate.

It wasn't a large portion, he still couldn't manage much, but it took some doing to get rid of it all. By the time he reached the bottom of the bowl, he'd almost reached the end of his energy too. Craig lifted the glass in a silent toast to his men and downed the milk in one go. Setting the empty glass back down with a clunk he turned a glare, that was tempered by a half smile, on his second and asked. "May I go now?"

Actor directed a benign smile in his direction and gave a little nod. "Yes, you may," then his voice took on a note of concern. The paperwork and discharge instructions from the doctor, and then the drive itself, had taken time. When they'd arrived to pick him up the Warden appeared well rested and almost fit, now, pain and fatigue etched lines on his face and darkened the area below his eyes. "Do you require any assistance?"

Garrison carefully got to his feet. "I can manage thanks. You guys take off for a while. Go on into the village, hit the pub or the movie house and give me a break. It'll be nice not to have someone hovering around for a change." That was one of the things that made a hospital so uncomfortable, every time you moved there was someone at your elbow… Besides, he knew the men had been in the city most of the time he was there because one or two of them would wander in for a 'quick visit' pretty much round the clock. They needed a rest just as much as he did.

There was a chorus of 'As you wish', 'sure thing', and 'why not' to his suggestion as the men finished their drinks and headed for the French doors that led out to the terrace. Craig didn't watch them out to the car, he was beat and was more than willing to go in and get some rest, so he didn't notice that they'd stopped just outside the door and edged down to stand under the window that was cut high in the wall of the room they'd set his bed up in.

Garrison turned to the left as soon as he stepped into the room. There was a chair in the corner, and hooks on the wall that would serve as a temporary wardrobe. He worked the buttons down the front of his shirt and eased out of it, hanging it on one of the hooks. Toeing out of his shoes he shoved them under the chair, then unbuckled the belt, loosed the button and unzipped his pants. Letting them drop off his hips he caught them with his left hand and stepped free of them. Mindful of the crease he folded the trousers over the back of the chair, letting his wallet and the other content of the pockets spill out onto the seat. Glancing down at his feet he sighed in mild frustration. He'd keep the socks on, they'd be too much trouble to get off, let alone back on again when he got up.

Intent on the bed when he turned around he didn't see it at first, when he did he let out an unguarded laugh, groaned over it and pressed his right hand down over the thick layer of tape and padding that still encircled his chest and ribs while he waited for the pain to subside. Moving past the bed to the far side of the room he bent stiffly at the hips and studied the layout. A length of miniature track ran along in front of the table that usually had a map spread over the top of it. He followed along it with his eyes, there was a gentle curve as the track turned the corner of the room, ran in front of the oak two-drawer file cabinet that had been drafted as his bedside table, and disappeared under his bed. Backing up a couple of steps he could see the sharper turn it took on the far side as it looped back to run along the wall at the head of the bed. A quick survey turned up the transformer and controls sitting conveniently atop the oak file cabinet.

Craig lowered himself gingerly down on the edge of the mattress and reached out to flip the switch. Nothing happened. He gave the dial on the control an experimental twist and was rewarded by the chuffing sound of a small engine as it moved along the track. A moment later it came into view as it slowly chugged out from under the bed and he couldn't help laughing again, even though it hurt. The small locomotive pulled a line of flat-bed and open cars… Every one of them held rank after rank of tin soldiers. Trying out some of the other switches on the control unit he was rewarded by a fairly realistic train whistle and a warning bell that clanged discordantly as a small barrier dropped down over in the corner of the room near the table leg. He tried different combinations out and dialed up the speed.., until he nearly lost a company of men when the little train rounded the corner a bit too fast.

Turning the control knob back to a slow steady 'chug' he used one of the canes to help lever his legs up onto the bed, slipped under the blankets and stretched out to try and get comfortable. The ache in his chest and back was almost constant, the relentless tingling in his legs maddening and the brace they had him strapped into was driving him crazy. To take his mind off all of it he concentrated on listening to the train as it traveled around and around the room.

It was almost hypnotic, the soft 'chug' of the small engine, the ticking of the wheels on the track as the train made it's way around the room. ... Around, and around, and around as he finally drifted off to sleep.

g

Late that night Goniff propped himself up on his elbow and directed a mildly irritated glare through the darkness at his friend and teammate. "Y' know, mate…. That might not a been one a the best ideas you ever had."

Casino just groaned and turned on his side as laughter filtered through the darkness from the other cots. The sound of that train clicking along the track seemed to be coming from everywhere. Who knew the ductwork between their room and that room off the Warden's office down on the first floor would act like a damned amplifier? Squirming to the edge of the pillow he reached back and pulled the other end of it up and over and jammed it down on his ear. Jeeze! He still heard it! The sound vibrated up the cot's wooden legs and drove right into the middle of his brain… The sound of that stupid train was gonna drive him nuts!


End file.
